Wohnregal | Stürzebecher / Nylund

Germany | 1986 | soft use

Description

The Wohnregal was conceived as a self-build project, erected under the overall umbrella of the International Building Exhibition (Altbau-IBA) in Berlin in 1987. The intention behind the project was to provide a cheap prefabricated reinforced concrete frame and slab structure, which acts as a shelf onto which future residents could build facades, partitions, party walls and intermediate floors using a timber building system.

The infill grid is based on a one-metre span between two timber stud walls, a dimension which is used for doors, windows, openings and corridors. Vertically, the grid interval is 35 cm, leading to an overall clear height for maisonettes of 5.6 metres. This height also defines height of windows and doors in the elevations. Within this grid and the structural restrictions posed by the reinforced concrete frame floor, plans as well as individual elevations were determined in a participatory process. The planning process focused around a 1:20 model which allowed the lay-self builders to visualise the architectural plans and to specify precisely the position of partition and party walls, as well as windows and balconies. The resultant spatial and elevational aesthetic is much looser than is found in traditional housing schemes, and even most flexible housing schemes.

References

Davey, P., and D. Clelland, 'Self-build housing, Admiralstrasse (Luisenstadt)', Architectural Review, 181, 1987.
'Haus der 12 Häuser: das Wohnregal', MD, 33, 1987, pp. 54-59.
Schneider, F., ed., Grundrißatlas Wohnungsbau - Floor plan atlas: housing, Basel: Birkhäuser, 1994.
Stürzebecher, P., 'Self-build', Aktuelles Bauen, 20, 1985, pp. 28-48.
Stürzebecher, P., '"Wohnregal"', Bauwelt, 76, 1985, pp. 264-67.
Stürzebecher, P., '"Wohnregal", Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin', Detail, 1986, pp. 459-65.