Honeycomb Apartments | OFIS Arhitekti

This project is the winning entry in a competition to design two social housing blocks convoked by the Slovenia Housing Fund, a government-run program which provides low cost apartments for young families. The proposal won for economic, rational and functional solutions and mostly for the excellent ratio between gross vs. saleable surface area and the flexibility of the plans. Also construction cost had to be at 600€ per m2 of net surface area. The brief required 30 apartments of different sizes from studio flats to 3 bedroom apartments for two blocks of 60 x 28 meters. There are no structural elements inside the apartments, thus providing flexibility and easily allow reorganization. The housing blocks are set out on a hill with a view of Izola Bay on one side and the surrounding hills on the other. Because of the Mediterranean climate, outdoor space and shade are important elements. Sustainable balcony box Each balcony module is an efficient system that provides shade, ventilation and thermal comfort on the balcony and it the same time also in the apartments. Textile elements fixed on the front of the balconies block direct sunlight and accumulate a warm air buffer zone that provides additional heating to the apartments in the winter. In the summer the hot accumulated area behind the shades is naturally ventilated through 10 cm perforations on the side partitions of the balconies.