Wohnen F // 9
The potential is there. It lies on the street, above parking lots, on roofs, between houses and in backyards. How can we densify our urban areas appropriately, with high quality and quickly?
The subject of the commission was the examination of a gap between buildings in the heterogeneous, fissured context of a broken block edge in the dense network of Cologne's Südstadt.
Can redensification take place here and new living space be created? Yes!
The 25-metre-wide gap between buildings will be filled within 10 days with 32 three-metre-wide, prefabricated timber modules. Raised on pile-founded strip foundations - without a concrete floor slab and lots of iron - the structure mediates between the different heights of the residents, closes the block and creates individual living spaces in the characteristic tangle of old and new.
The bedrooms face the parking lot to the north; the living areas face the courtyard to the south. A residential unit always consists of two adjoining units. One has water, the other does not. In this way, the floor plan created by the context allows for four different sizes of living space in a strict modular order. The result is 7 apartments of around 45 to 85 square meters - diversity in the system.
The buildings are constructed with cross-laminated timber, wood-aluminum windows and curtain walls. No plastic windows. No ETICS. The wooden walls and ceilings remain visible, their materiality is retained, creating comfort and a healthy living environment on a flat linoleum floor.
The north façade is plain; the south façade is presented with a steel and timber skeleton that structurally solves the sun protection problem - there is no need for mechanical shading. The result is a buffer space to the existing building nearby, which offers privacy while providing maximum daylight. The new building is entered via the courtyard through the existing building. The required eight parking spaces will also be accommodated here in a flush underground parking system. On the lower part of the building, a generous pergola will be created on an intensive green roof. The remaining roof areas are extensively greened and will be covered with PV to support the district heating. A small private garden in the middle of the city is being created between the boundary wall and the new building.
The nucleus of all the apartments will be supplemented by additional living spaces. Affordable spaces are being created that make for high-quality living.
