Estradenhaus | Wolfram Popp Planungen
Germany | 1996 | hard use
Image Credit: ©Wolfram Popp / Isabel Simon: Estradenhaus 1
Project Information
| Address: | Choriner Strasse 56, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin |
| Work Type: | new built |
| Location: | urban |
| Number of Storeys: | 7-storey |
| Type of Building: | tenement / apartment house |
| Number of Units: | 10 |
| Other Uses: | 3 commercial units [shop + 188m² offices] |
Description
Built in the area of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Wolfram Popp's two apartment blocks with a total of 27 units are sited on a gap site between two typical nineteenth century Berlin Altbauten. Both seven-storey infill buildings, the first completed in 1999 and the second in 2001, were privately financed and provide both rental as well as freehold apartments of between 78 m2 and 180 m2.
Whilst the buildings' name alludes to a historical term used to describe a raised floor area leading up to a window opening, the main feature in both buildings is - though executed differently - the open plan. The first building on Choriner Straße 56 has ten apartments, two offices and a shop. The vertical circulation is located with its short side to the streetward elevation. Its off-centre position creates two different sizes of apartments: one of 78 m2 and one of 108 m2. Access to each apartment is from the centre of the plan into a small hall that is part of the service zone which runs the full depth of the building. A wall of moveable ceiling high wooden panels in front of the service zone, each individually workable, reveals or hides the functions behind. The space beyond this zone is undivided and can be adapted to whatever use required, thereby offering a variety of options to the occupants. The architect wanted to determine these layouts as little as possible, but did show 12 variations some with sliding walls and moveable elements. In the end only one of the tenants opted for moveable wall.References
Hoetzel, D., 'Das Estradenhaus. Wohnungsbau mit beweglicher Kiemenwand in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg', Bauwelt, 1998, pp. 1726-27.
Leupen, B., R. Heijne, and J. v. Zwol, eds., Time-based Architecture, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005.