Intermediate Housing
The project at the heart of Neuhof results in the construction of a new neighborhood block, erected on the site of a 1970s building known as the “Y.” Intent on offering a variety of living modes that encourage urban diversity, SOMCO invited four designers (DeA architectes, Kühn und Lehmann, H. Klein, and Richter architectes) to work with no constraints other than respecting the required number of housing units, regulations, and budget.
This experimental approach was aimed at fostering new typologies—different kinds of housing. A master plan was developed, drawing both on the morphology of the preserved existing buildings and on the historical agricultural parcel logic of the site, prioritizing residents’ ability to appropriate the neighborhood and efficient parking management. Some architectural principles were also established: a building scale allowing for cross-ventilated apartments, generous outdoor spaces, and simple vertical circulation open to the outside.
Building “B” is located at the center of the first phase of the overall project. Its position as an in-between space inspired an original proposal: a building without a front or back, with apartment entrances and as many addresses on its two largest façades.
By individualizing each access and designing all large apartments as duplexes—either split-level up or down—the project gives them the character of private houses, with exterior extensions varying by level: gardens and small yards on the ground floor, balconies, then large terraces on the upper floors. The stacking of all staircases (private or shared) follows a rational structural scheme, allowing apartments to fully benefit from their cross-ventilated position by providing airy, light-filled spaces stretching from one façade to the other, and offering living areas far larger than those found in standardized social housing.
