Residential Building Christian-Morgenstern-Straße | CHRIST.CHRIST. Associated Architects

Detached single-family homes are still considered the most attractive form of living in Germany and across most parts of the world. And yet, the related urban sprawl is leading to severe traffic congestion combined with major infrastructure and mobility problems, and to increased destruction of the natural landscape.

For this reason, high-quality concentration is a central strategy for correcting the disadvantages of urban sprawl. The aim was to erect a residential building which has a high residential density, but does not lose the living quality of a single-family home with a garden and garage.

The residential building shown here are new constructions comprising two almost identical apartment buildings featuring eight residential units each. Due to the open multi-storey car park on the ground floor, the apartments are suspended over the landscape, elevated away from the adjacent road .

Inside the buildings themselves, different single-family home-style apartment types have been realised.

The first floor contains bungalow apartments, and the second and top floors feature maisonettes. All these apartments have large, protruding roof gardens/roof terraces, which are planted with trees and shrubs, and from which you have a wonderful view into the unobstructable green of the bordering landscape.

In order to facilitate living in a green area despite the high population density, a multifunctional element has been developed. This element is a deep parapet, designed to significantly reduce the neighbours’ views of each other’s homes between the storeys. Furthermore, the element serves as a plant trough, and thus takes on the function of a noise barrier, so that the gardens can be attractive outside areas despite the relatively busy road.

The buildings are in a staggered design, adapted to the natural gradient of the site. Due to this, and due to the lack of cellars, costly excavation work is reduced to a minimum.

The undersides of the garage ceilings are designed in eight colour shades. Due to the different colours, which are repeated in the respective staircases, a clear identification of the address can be achieved.