Überbauung Hellmutstrasse | ADP Architektur und Planung

Switzerland | 1991 | soft form

Description

The design concept for the buildings in Zürich was developed as a result of a consultation process with future tenants who belonged to a housing cooperative committed to the idea of a form of communal living in an urban neighbourhood. The design is spilt into three distinct horizontal zones. At the top is a line of similarly sized rooms divided by loadbearing partitions, and with the possibility of inserting non-loadbearing partitions to define circulation. These rooms have no designated use. Then there is a row of serviced spaces that can be either bathrooms or kitchens. Finally, a zone containing what is usually a kitchen and living space, but which can also be used as a self-contained studio apartment. All apartments are accessed from an external staircase and balconies, which are generous enough to share with others. The overall arrangement allows multiple arrangements to be achieved, from large groups of single people living together right down to selfcontained one-person studio apartments. The zoning also allows future changes to be made with ease. These changes can include the possibility of enlargement of one unit and the reduction of size of another one, which means that the overall number of apartments is not fixed but depends upon demand. In practice, the design proved most flexible in handling the multiple demands of the initial occupants.

References

Leupen, B., R. Heijne, and J. v. Zwol, eds., Time-based Architecture, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005.
'Uberbauung Hellmutstrasse Zürich (Wogeno), im Bau', werk, bauen + wohnen, 76 / 43, 1989, pp. 50-51.