"Organization type ": Estudio

Moholt 50I50 – Timber Towers

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Moholt 50I50 – Timber Towers

Urban Design Quality Liveability
Promotion and production Materials Technology

Main objectives of the project

The Moholt 50|50 project in Trondheim, Norway, aims to improve student housing by introducing new collective-oriented units, support services, and public programs. It creates an active central area that connects the student village with the surrounding area. The project includes tower constructions where each floor is a student collective with shared spaces. Additionally, it features a kindergarten, library, and public spaces. All buildings are constructed using cross-laminated timber (CLT) and have an ambitious energy concept, including geothermal heating. The use of CLT reduces CO2 emissions and the project is the largest CLT project in Europe. The towers have a 9-storey height, with CLT elements used from the first to the 9th floor. The project utilizes the aesthetic qualities of CLT and conducted fire tests. The façade cladding system accommodates shrinkage and is clad with Kebony treated pine wood panels.

Date

  • 2016: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Masu planning
  • Architect: MDH Arkitekter SA

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Trondheim
Country/Region: Norway, Trondheim

Description

Student housing often plumb the depths of mediocrity, with simple units stacked on top of each other in the cheapest way possible and left to themselves without support programs. The Moholt 50|50 project is a reaction to this. By injecting new collective oriented housing units, support services for students and public programs into an existing student village built in the sixties, a new active central area is created, erasing the psychological border between the student village and the surrounding area.

The project is located in Trondheim, Norway. The title Moholt 50|50 represents a turning point in the history of the student village. 50 years after the inauguration of the first student units at Moholt student village a competition for young architects was arranged looking for a vision for the coming 50 years. True to the ideals of the student organization – offering both private space for individual needs and collective space promoting collaboration, social responsibility and tolerance, the winning project proposed tower constructions where every floor is a student collective. Every collective consists of 15 units with individual bathrooms. The habitants of the units share a kitchen, dining/ living room, entrance hall and a guest toilet. The ground floors of all towers offer spaces for more publicly oriented services of the student organization and commercial spaces. In addition to the student housing towers the masterplan consists of a kindergarten and a library with spaces for student activities. All buildings are constructed in crosslaminated timber (CLT) and have an ambitious energy concept. Moholt 50|50 is the largest CLT project in Europe. The guiding idea was to lay out a “street” through the student village, a coherent and active public space. Moholt allmenningen (Moholt commons), as it is now officially called, brings together existing small paths and roads to a larger public space and connects them to the larger road system. All new buildings are connected to this street which brings together movement and activity connected to the buildings. The Moholt Commons is a “shared space” area, also available to emergency vehicles, deliveries and handicap vehicles. It is designed as a public space with benches, stages, bicycle parking and planting – a place where people can meet. In the original competition proposal the towers were planned with conventional construction methods; a steel and concrete structure with a brick cladding, the latter in order to harmonize with the existing low-rise student housing with redbrick facades. To meet the project’s energy and climate goals the project team researched the possibility of turning the structures into CLT constructions. The towers, with their relatively short spans and Y-shape volumes, were statically optimal for CLT-construction. The choice of CLT in load-bearing structures, the reduced energy need in accordance with the “passive house standard” and geothermal heating are the main elements of the environmental concept for the project. The local heating plant consists of 23 geothermal wells, heat recovery from ventilation air, heat recovery from waste-water, and solar thermal collectors, all of which provide for an integrated energy system.

The use of CLT has reduced the CO2 in building materials by 57 % and the CO2 emissions associated with energy use are reduced by approximately 70% compared to standard Norwegian requirements. db77d1a7fbc36aa2769d9d623707981f2eb6d65f e7059104b8f3c628405c8bc8408ffaf6f0b22661

The five towers are 9-storeys high with a height of 28-metres. The basement and ground floor levels are made in cast reinforced concrete. From the first floor to the 9th floor the structure consists of prefabricated CLT-elements.

The approach to building with CLT was to take advantage of the finished surface of the CLT elements and expose as much as possible of the wood in the interiors. By utilizing the technical and aesthetic qualities of the CLT system a robust and honest expression was achieved.

A full scale fire test was conducted to establish a better information basis for fire sizing, burn rate and sprinkler capacity.

Like regular wood structures, CLT wood structures have the characteristics of shrinkage in tangential and radial direction. The façade cladding system of the student towers is designed to give it a telescopic characteristic, which can absorb the shrinkage of the floor elements without creating tensions in the cladding.

The façades are clad with Kebony treated pine wood panels. The cladding on the ground floor is treated with a fire protecting wood stain, whereas the rest of the Kebony façade is left untreated and will weather naturally.

Authors:

Rasu Houses

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Rasu Houses

Urban Design Quality

Main objectives of the project

Rasu Namai is a residential quarter in Vilnius consisting of 18 houses. The plot of land features a wooded slope, ammunition vaults, and a creek. The design overcomes challenges of a narrow site, lack of sunlight, and historical preservation through an elevated and lowered approach. Eight elevated houses are positioned between the retaining walls of the vaults, angled to correspond with the vault entrances. Ten lowered houses connect two terraces along the creek and street, with retaining walls separating car spaces and private terraces. The buildings are clad in various textures of wood planks, reflecting local traditions and creating a harmonious aesthetic. The project preserves the street's perspective, extending into the Ribiskes landscape reserve. Concrete structures support the elevated houses, while other elements use local materials like clay brickwork and wooden roofs. The facades are clad in Siberian larch for minimal maintenance. The design emphasizes the relationship between nature, historical objects, textures, and the new structures, contributing to non-energetic sustainability.

Date

  • 2015: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: PLAZMA Architecture Studio
  • Architect: Paleko architektu studija

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Vilnius
Country/Region: Lithuania, Vilnius

Description

Rasu Namai is a residential quarter consisting of ordinary 18 houses in Pavilniai regional park of Vilnius.
A 7000 sq. m. plot of land in the cul-de-sac of Rasu street features a tall tree wooded slope with a northern orientation, 1920s ammunition vaults on the higher ground and a narrow creek on lower levels. The new buildings in the higher part of the plot are elevated on slender columns in order to „catch” the sun and leave the walls of historical vaults undisturbed. Meanwhile the buildings down the slope are lowered in order to get more privacy and provided with the yards on the creek bank.

The main design challenges were: an extremely narrow site with cross height difference, lack of sun and affection to historical objects. The key answer to it lay in the duality: ELEVATED + LOWERED.

8 ELEVATED houses are set between the retaining walls of the ammunition vaults or placed above their cornices to ensure their visibility from the street. The pairs of houses correspond to the pairs of entrances to the vaults. These houses are angled to correspond with the entrances to the vaults.
The northern side of the street is shaped by the intermittent perimeter of LOWERED houses. 10 separate buildings connect two terraces: the bank of the creek and the street. Retaining walls between the houses separate the places for cars on the street level and private terraces below.

The complex of houses is harmonized by uniform materialization: buildings are clad in wood planks of several different textures, influenced by local traditions. Homogenous architectural details, scale and color of the buildings enhance the idea of unity even further.

The perspective of the street is not obstructed, but rather extending into the valley of Ribiskes landscape reserve.

The idea to raise the upper houses on metal stilts required the use of concrete structures while other elements of the project employs local, traditional building materials such as clay brickwork and wooden roof structures. The facades are clad in Siberian larch harvested in the nearby areas and initially patinated to keep it as much maintenance free as possible. The compact size of the building decrease heat losses as well as provide easy accessibility to every element if repair is necessary. The relation between local nature, historical objects, textures and the new structures might be considered as an aspect of non-energetic sustainability.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Puukuokka Housing Block (house 1)

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Puukuokka Housing Block (house 1)

Urban Design Environments Quality

Main objectives of the project

Puukuokka One is Finland's first eight-story wooden apartment building, showcasing modular prefabricated CLT construction for high-quality, environmentally responsible, and affordable housing. It has received accolades such as the Finlandia Prize for Architecture and Resident Act of the Year 2015. The complex consists of three 6-8-story buildings, with the first building completed and the others scheduled for construction in the next two years. Puukuokka aims to maximize the technical and aesthetic qualities of CLT while creating a distinct architectural expression. It pioneers a lease-to-own financing strategy to support social sustainability, allowing gradual ownership acquisition through rental payments over 20 years. The design combines the warmth and privacy of single-family dwellings with the semi-public nature of shared spaces in apartment buildings. The use of CLT enables a spacious and energy-efficient hallway and atrium space, independent temperature control in each unit, and integrated piping for maintenance. The construction time is reduced through prefabricated modules, which also allow for a fully wooden load-bearing structure. The complex is built on a concrete foundation, preserving the natural landscape and utilizing locally available and renewable wood as a low-emission and CO2 storage material.

Date

  • 2015: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: OOPEAA Office for Peripheral Architecture

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Jyväskylä
Country/Region: Finland, Jyväskylä

Description

Puukuokka One is the first eight-story high wooden apartment building in Finland. It explores the potential of modular prefabricated CLT construction to meet the goal of providing high quality, environmentally responsible and affordable housing. It has won several prizes including Finlandia Prize for Architecture and Resident Act of the Year 2015.
The Puukuokka apartment complex is comprised of three 6-8-storey buildings. The first building in the Puukuokka complex is now complete and the other two buildings will be built over the next two years.

The goal was to find a solution that makes the best possible use of the technical and aesthetic qualities of CLT and to create a wooden building in large scale with a distinct architectonic expression of its own.

Puukuokka pilots an innovative lease-to-own financing strategy that aims to support social sustainability by promoting stable communities. A 7% down payment on the purchase price of an apartment allows the purchaser to secure a state guaranteed loan, and, through rental payments over a period of 20 years, the purchaser gradually acquires full ownership of the unit. The sales price is negotiated and agreed upon when the lease is signed.

The goal was to create a building that combines the sense of warmth and privacy of a single-family dwelling with the semi-public character of the shared spaces of an apartment building.The town plan has been tailored to meet the needs of the building complex making it possible to count only part of the shared spaces in the building volume and allowing an open and spacious feel in the shared spaces without compromising the amount of space offered in the individual units.

Puukuokka served as a pilot case to develop and test a CLT based system of volumetric modules. Working with CLT enabled several important aspects in the project: It made it possible to create a spacious hallway and atrium space with a lot of light realized in an energy efficient manner as a semi-warm space. The insulating qualities of massive wood allow for controlling the temperature of the individual units independently. The use of prefabricated volumetric CLT modules made it possible to integrate the piping for heat, water, electricity and ventilation in the wall structure in the hallway making it easily accessible for maintenance. This arrangement also allows for an efficient organization of the plan. The entire load bearing structure and frame is made of massive wood composed of prefabricated volumetric CLT modules made of spruce. Each apartment is made of two modules, one housing the living room, balcony and bedroom, the other the bathroom, kitchen and foyer.

The use of prefabricated modules made it possible to cut the construction time on site down to six months and to reduce the exposure to weather conditions. That made it possible to achieve a higher quality in the end result. Working with CLTmade it possible to create a building with a primary load bearing structure and frame fully made of wood. The modules are prefabricated in a local factory in Hartola less than two hours away from the site.

The complex is built on a concrete foundation with indoor parking spaces on the basement level. To preserve the naturally hilly landscape of the site, as much of the bedrock has been left untouched as possible. The building follows the contours of the site to minimize disturbance to the underlying bedrock and existing vegetation.

Wood is a locally available, renewable and recyclable material for construction. It also produces reduced emissions and provides remarkable co2 storage.

Authors:

Shepherdess Walk Housing

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Shepherdess Walk Housing

Urban Design

Main objectives of the project

Shepherdess Walk is a contemporary residential development in central London, blending with the historical context of the area. The project features houses and apartments with a split-level design, offering spatial generosity and flexibility. The exterior spaces vary, including walled gardens for houses and panoramic views for apartments. The design draws inspiration from the historical terraced housing of Shepherdess Walk, with subtle variations in façades and a folding effect to create a connection with the surrounding Georgian terrace. The apartment building complements the larger post-war housing nearby. Both buildings are clad in brick, reflecting the local materiality. Deep window reveals and raw interior materials such as plaster, timber, concrete, brass, and steel add character and patina over time. Handcrafted elements like walnut handrails and brass ironmongery provide a tactile quality.

Date

  • 2015: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Jaccaud Zein Architects

Location

Continent: Europe
City: London
Country/Region: London, United Kingdom

Description

Shepherdess Walk is a new residential development in central London, located near to Old Street roundabout, on the border of Shoreditch, London’s technology hub and design district of Clerkenwell. Situated at the corner of Shepherdess Walk and Wenlock Street, the project establishes positive relations with the different historical conditions and formal qualities of the site to propose an unapologetically contemporary project for a terrace of houses and an apartment building with a strong sense of place.

A split-level section was developed in collaboration with Solidspace and has been applied to both houses and apartments. This configuration allows for the juxtaposition of rooms with different usages around double-height connected spaces, offering a sense of spatial generosity and continuity. The complexity of the section is not immediately apparent from the exterior with only hints given by the large-scale windows to the presence of the double height spaces.

The split-level arrangement introduced a strong potential for flexibility for the apartments, allowing for possible subdivisions within each unit with multiple access to the stairwell. This flexibility allows for a possible fragmentation of scale and an evolution of use through time to meet the demands of multiple occupancy, of children growing up, of partial rental of the unit, of working from home or just varying use of the different rooms.

Every dwelling has an exterior space with a variety of specific qualities. If the houses have rear walled gardens which echo the surrounding Georgian types the apartments have a diversity of exterior spaces which open up to spectacular views at the top of the building, incorporating views of London and it’s surroundings into the building. Shepherdess Walk has a rich historical heritage of terraced housing and fragments of the continuous Georgian frontages, still visible despite the heavy bomb damage suffered during the Second World War. The project draws on this historical fabric and reinstates three terraced houses on Shepherdess Walk in a contemporary reinterpretation of the type. Gentle variations of the façades enable a subtle closure of the street towards the adjacent park, giving both orientation to the open space from within the building and clarification of the boundaries of the streetscape. This slight folding echoes the geometry of the adjacent Georgian terrace, reinforcing the historical identity of the street. Facing on to Wenlock Street, the first house folds more sharply asserting its presence towards the south and opening the angle of the site towards a second apartment building. This shift in scale between the two buildings generates a vivid urban juxtaposition that reinforces the presence of the corner in the neighborhood.

The apartment building rises in scale beyond the houses to stitch the development into the context of bigger scale post-war housing which extend beyond

Both buildings are clad in a brick that was chosen to reflect the patinated materiality of the surroundings, once again stitching the development into its context. Slight variations to the pointing of the brickwork allow for a horizontal banding to the apartment building façade, directing the gaze along the depth of the street and marking an articulation in the bulk of the building. Deep window reveals emphasise the threshold between the intimacy of the interior spaces and the street giving a sense of weight and presence to the buildings. All internal spaces have been developed using a palette of raw materials, plaster, timber, concrete brass and steel which are designed to patinate with use, giving each space a specific and unique character which will develop through time. Handrails and ironmongery have been designed to offer a sensual tactile quality, using hand crafted traditional materials such as solid walnut and brass.

Authors:

Collective housing for elderly people and civic and health centre

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Collective housing for elderly people and civic and health centre

Urban Design Environments Equity

Main objectives of the project

The project comprises 105 senior citizens' housing units and features a double-height plinth with a Health Centre and Senior Community Centre. The design fosters a dynamic community and preserves the existing social network of the neighborhood. Located near Glories' square, the project integrates with the urban fabric of Eixample and responds to Diagonal Street. Three housing volumes on top of the plinth accommodate the program. Each building has seven or eight dwellings per floor, connected by a central corridor. Communal spaces include a rooftop terrace, laundry, porch, and patio-solarium. The layout promotes a sense of limitless interconnectedness, with movable walls and open spaces. The construction system incorporates thermal insulation and a district heating system, resulting in high energy efficiency.

Date

  • 2016: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: peris+toral.arquitectes
  • Architect: Bonell i Gil

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Barcelona
Country/Region: Barcelona, Spain

Description

The project organises 105 senior citizens housing into three volumes spread out, on top of a double-height plinth containing a Health Centre and a Senior Community Centre. The building’s common spaces help to create a dynamic community. The mixed-use of the program enable to preserve the existing social network of the neighbourhood. The project is located near Glories’ square. This plot is within the Eixample’s urban fabric. At the same time, is part of a city block trimmed by Diagonal’s Street trace.

One of the main challenges the project had to face was the mixed-use program with different real estate developments: 105 housing for Barcelona’s council, a Health Centre for regional government, a Senior Community Centre for the district and a vehicle impoundment parking for BSM. We opted for a unitary building in order to organise and to encourage different uses but also to accommodate the whole program: a group of three volumes of housing on top of one double-height plinth containing the facilities.

By overlapping two different urban strategies, the project is capable of giving response to the surroundings’ complexity. On one hand, the continuous base of the building recognises the grid of the Eixample, by leaning on its alignments. On the other, the housing volumes give continuity to the sequence of nearby isolated blocks in respond to Diagonal Street. The void between these blocks is necessary to filter the public space through and to maintain the global unit. The result is an architectural ensemble that despite its domestic height is able to dialogue with the unique geometry of the high and sharped nearby buildings, joining into a greater scale urban piece of strong identity.

Depending on the block, each building has seven or eight dwellings by floor with a central corridor. This walkway enlarges at both ends where it receives daylight.

At the top floor of each building there are a communal laundry, a covered porch with clothes lines and a patio-solarium with foreseen urban-garden.

At the plinth’s roof level, each building has a multi-use room connected directly with the outside terrace enabling the social services managing the building to organise workshops or activities.

This communal terrace, located at the treetops’ height and endowed with benches, is opened to the surrounding views. It integrates the three blocks into a larger community of neighbours.

Considering these are dwellings for elderly, users are meant to spend long periods of time at home and at the building. Thus, communal spaces enhance and enrich the experience of living. This dwelling’s typology is organised around a central core of serving spaces, which is surrounded by the bedroom and the living room, both understood as a continuous and flexible space articulated by the terrace. This layout enables to perceive space as limitless, not enclosed but interconnected. The bathroom segregates into two pieces: a more private area and an open space.

Spaces connect or segregate through large sliding doors, like movable walls. If they are all open, space flows around the core. Depending on whether doors either open or close, space is transformed so it can be differently used.

The corner’s typology repeats the same scheme of serving spaces. The entrance threshold is enlarged to host the dinning room, linked by a window to the kitchen. The sights connect with the exterior through a large series of frames. The enfilade of doors and windows increase the porosity of space; and as a result, space seems larger than it is.

Rooms are never enclosed, they always vanish into neighbouring spaces slightly introduced for the occupant to imagine. Tangent views flow around the core, linking contiguous spaces.

The dwellings’s structure consists on perimeter walls and pillars always located on the in-between apartments walls so that a free plant is guaranteed. It is at the ground floor level and by using cross-beams where the structure turns into an orthogonal grid of pillars of 7,5×7,5m for the parking located at the lower floors.

The construction system of the housing façade is different than the one for the plinth. The one of the dwellings consists in External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) improving the thermal inertia of the building, whereas in the lower floors Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) is used. Both systems guarantee a thermal break, providing maximum comfort.

The building is connected to a district heating system, providing sanitary hot water and central heating. Inside the houses, we opted for a low-temperature underfloor-heating system in order to obtain greater comfort with less consumption. Due to all these resources, the building is qualified with an A for European energy labeling.

Authors:

Verdana Blok K

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Verdana Blok K

Urban Design Environments Quality Liveability

Main objectives of the project

Blok K, part of the Het Funen master plan by Architecten Cie, consists of ten houses organized in a "back-to-back" typology. The apartments have their entries through a central aisle, eliminating the need for storage spaces on the facades. By slightly rotating the aisle and directing it towards open spaces between the blocks, a public shortcut and diagonal vista are created. Each house is unique, with apartments spanning two to four stories and ranging from 140 to 180 m², but they form a cohesive whole.

Date

  • 2009: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: NL Architects

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Amsterdam
Country/Region: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Description

Blok K or Verdana, is part of a master plan by the Architecten Cie, called Het Funen, Hidden Delights , which calls for a total of 500 dwellings and a park. The block contains ten houses and the point of departure for the project was that the urban envelop should be distributed evenly over all of them.
Having been organised according to the “back-to-back” typology, the entries to the apartments are via an aisle in the middle of the block, which rids the facades of the obligatory storage spaces and technical installations that must be publically accessible. By slightly rotating the aisle and orienting it onto two open spaces between the blocks instead of onto two “blind” walls, a public shortcut has been provided and within the orthogonal grid a diagonal vista opens up. Although each of the houses are unique, with apartments ranging from two to four stories, and from 140 to 180 m², together they are one.

Authors:

Timberyard Social Housing

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Timberyard Social Housing

Urban Design Environments Quality Liveability

Main objectives of the project

This Dublin project arose from the need to relocate residents affected by road construction. The 47-unit development was designed in consultation with local residents and meets high environmental standards. The concrete structure allows for flexible apartment layouts. The triangular courtyard offers a secure social space with window seats, balconies, and winter gardens. The use of brick and timber reflects the surrounding area's architecture and history as a timberyard.

Date

  • 2009: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: O’Donnell + Tuomey

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Dublin
Country/Region: Dublin, Ireland

Description

This project in the historic Liberties area of Dublin arose from the need to relocate the residents of the existing pockets of social housing that had been demolished in order to make way for a new road. The client brief, which was set out in consultation with the local and new residents, called for an exemplar social housing development and in response, this 47-unit project provides compact city living adjacent to schools and services. Built to the latest environmental standards including fuel and energy conservation, the concrete structure enabled a greater flexibility with apartment layouts by stepping the internal party walls vertically. 2106 14137 2106 14135

The triangular courtyard provides a secure social space with passive surveillance from the adjacent apartments. This space is animated by window seats at ground level with recessed balconies and projecting winter gardens above. Brick and timber echo the existing housing and industrial buildings, and the former use of the site as a timberyard.

Authors:

Transformation of Tour Bois-le-Prêtre Housing Block

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Transformation of Tour Bois-le-Prêtre Housing Block

Urban Design Services and infrastructure Quality Inclusion

Main objectives of the project

This 16-storey high-rise block in Paris was transformed instead of being demolished. New flooring was added to each level, creating closable terraces for winter gardens and balconies. The apartments were improved with more natural light and energy efficiency. The small windows were replaced with large openings for panoramic views. The entrance hall was refurbished, removing unnecessary rooms and making it open and transparent. Collective activity areas and lifts were added, and prefabricated construction allowed residents to stay during renovations.

Date

  • 2011: Rehabilitación

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Lacaton & Vassal architectes
  • Architect: Frédéric Druot Architecture; 

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Paris
Country/Region: France, Paris

Description

Built in the early 60s along the ring road on the northern periphery of Paris, this high-rise block of 16 storeys contains 96 apartments. Instead of demolition, which was the first option that was considered, a project of transformation of the existing building was decided upon.The project proposed a generous expansion of the apartments. On each level, new flooring, which was built as a self-supporting structure, was added onto the entire periphery of the tower. This design strategy allowed for the extension of all the rooms by creating closable terraces that could act as winter gardens as well as balconies for each unit.

At the same time the overall quality and comfort of the apartments was improved with additional natural light and the reduction of energy consumption for heating. The existing facades with their small windows were removed and they were replaced by large transparent openings so that the residents can enjoy the exceptional panoramic views over Paris. The entrance hall on the ground floor was refurbished and it was made level with the exterior. All the useless rooms and installations were removed in order to make the entryway an open and transparent space through which the new garden can be accessed. On the sides of this space, areas for collective activities were established and two lifts were installed to improve the vertical circulation to the apartments. The construction was carried out with prefabricated elements so that the inhabitants could remain in the apartments during the renovation of the building.

Authors:

R50 Cohousing

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R50 Cohousing

Urban Design Inclusion Public-private initiative Participatory processes

Main objectives of the project

R50 - cohousing in Berlin-Kreuzberg is a joint building venture project with 19 apartments and shared spaces. The concrete structure and modular timber facade were specifically designed for this building, allowing a direct dialogue between architecture and use. The compact and efficient design process involved extensive participation and led to agreements on shared spaces, including an urban garden, access ramp, laundry, workshop, and roof terrace. The building offers low-cost and adaptable housing with a sustainable approach to urban living, integrating into the existing fabric.

Date

  • 2013: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: ifau
  • Architect: Jesko Fezer
  • Architect:  HEIDE & VON BECKERATH

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Berlin
Country/Region: Berlin, Germany

Description

R50 - cohousing is a joint building venture project in Berlin-Kreuzberg. It was initiated by the architects during the course of a concept-based award procedure for building plots and implemented in close cooperation with the clients. The building proposal is founded on a clear urban design position, robust and precisely detailed architectural design, and both a collective and individual process of occupancy.

The detached building is surrounded by various housing concepts characteristic of Berlin’s post-war period. It has six full storeys, a basement and an attic. It comprises three blocks with 19 individual apartments, one studio and various shared spaces. Underneath is a double-height, flexible community space which connects the building’s main access with the public street space. It is made available for neighbourhood groups and other public uses. The reinforced concrete structure was designed to minimum requirements. Combined with the reduced and partly exposed infrastructure, the modular timber facade with fixed and flexible, outward opening glazed door elements was specifically developed for this building. This combined with the all-around balconies on each level allows a direct dialogue between the building’s architecture and its use.

Meeting the owners’ aspiration for collective and affordable living and working, the architectural concept is based on a compact and efficient structure with carefully detailed connections on different scales. It is based on a concrete skeleton with one access and two service cores, an independent timber facade and a suspended steel construction for the all-around balconies. A slightly sunken basement level provides access to the building and merges private and public spaces. Each apartment and all additional community spaces were developed by an intensive process of consultations, discussions and design. Based on the structural framework the sizes of apartments could be determined and individual requirements accommodated in the floor plans. In parallel to this process, a common standard for fixtures and fittings was developed and defined, which has resulted in a collective approach to interior fittings, the use of materials and some surfaces left unfinished, whilst allowing individual layouts of the apartments.
This kind of structured yet open design process has not only allowed for extensive participation, self-directed design and self-building, but has also led to mutual agreement on the type, location, size and design of spaces shared by residents. This includes the generous urban garden, which naturally blends into the landscape of the surrounding 1960s residential neighbourhood, an access ramp leading to a covered area in front of the basement, a laundry, a workshop and a roof terrace with a summer kitchen and a winter garden. The all around balconies accompany the bright interior spaces and connect the apartments on each floor.

Plot 2,056 m2
GFA 2,780 m2
Net usable space 2,311 m2
Living space 2,158 m2
Community space 122 m2
All-around balconies 462 m2
Roof terrace 38 m2

R50 cohousing is a new model typology for low-cost and affordable housing offering a maximum capacity for adaptation and flexibility throughout its lifetime. Social, cultural, economic and ecological aspects have been considered equally to define a contemporary sustainable approach to urban living. The limit set by German Energy Saving Regulations (EnEV 2009) was reduced by 30%. Another essential aspect of sustainability is the building’s particular ability to integrate into the existing urban fabric.

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Urban Spaces 1 / Dogarilor Apartment Building

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Urban Spaces 1 / Dogarilor Apartment Building

Urban Design Services and infrastructure Liveability

Main objectives of the project

Located in Mulhouse's popular district near the city center, this project consists of 59 social rental dwellings developed by SOMCO. Our goal is to provide generous dwellings without increasing rent. We aim to address the issue of densification in Bucharest's central area while preserving the qualities of the existing neighborhood. The building design seeks to maintain the narrow plots' porosity and blend with the surrounding collage-like appearance. It balances the required alignment with the specific characteristics of the street and urban fabric. The apartments offer diverse typologies, ranging from studios to four-bedroom units, with private courtyards, balconies, or terraces. Common spaces, commercial areas, and ateliers are also included. The flexible design allows for unit combinations, resulting in a total of 77 residential units and approximately 50 apartment types. Site size: 2082 m2; Building size: 8931 m2.

Date

  • 2014: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: ADN Birou de Arhitectura

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Bucharest
Country/Region: Bucharest, Romania

Description

The project is located in Mulhouse in a popular district close to the city center, currently under renovation. It includes 59 social rental dwellings developed by SOMCO, operator on public social housing. A few years after the Cité Manifeste experience, our common goal was to pursue the same aims: generous dwellings without increasing the rent. One of the most important and problematic aspects of nowadays Bucharest is the fast densification of the central area. While we believe that density can, and many times must be seen as a form of sustainability, we also admit that the often fragile relationship between habitation within an old neighborhood and the increase of density could many times alter the place and reduce its existing qualities.

Our project is looking for an appropriate answer to this problem. It tries to mediate between different sizes and densities, in a quite central neighborhood characterized by small streets, long, narrow plots and a puzzle of old and new buildings of all types and scales. The building searches to preserve, at its own scale, the porosity and “profoundness” of the deep, narrow plots, while also trying to capture part of the “collage”-like appearance of the surroundings. The volumetric proposal seeks to partially open the building to the street, in the depth of the plot. Because of this, the volume facing the street is less compact and the ground floor is more transparent, in order to allow a better visual connection at eye s level. In this way, we have also tried to mediate between the continuous alignment required by the urban regulation and the specific of the street and of the surrounding urban fabric, characterized by fragmentation. At the same time, the project proposes a type of habitation which we consider suitable for the center of the contemporary city: a place where the relatively small spaces and the density are complemented by diversity and wider common spaces. Most of the apartments are different from one another, not only in size, but especially in typology: they range from studios to four-bedroom apartments – each one of them laying on one, two or even three floors and having private courtyards, balconies or terraces of different sizes. They all are complemented by several indoor and outdoor common spaces (terraces, party room, large halls etc.), while the ground floor offers several commercial spaces and ateliers to rent, towards the street and the inner courtyard. The apartments are conceived in such way as to allow a great deal of flexibility, making it possible to connect (horizontally or vertically) two or more small units into a larger one, leading, in the end, at a building consisting of 77 residential units offering approx. 50 types of apartments. Size of the site: 2082 m2; Size of the building: 8931 m2

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