concept
Our spatial and architectural goal by developing the project is best expressed through the title of the project: "Our Space". The name "Our Space" was meant to stress the communal aspect of the common spaces in the house and the garden and became during the process something like a guideline for the architecture. For example: The most appealing space in the house such as the prominent southwest facing little rooftop apartment on the sixth floor was realized not for a private apartment but as a common space (Gemeinschaftsraum) with a grand L-shaped roof-terrace in front. From this terrace a six story staircase attached to the outside of the building links all apartments and leads all the way from the roof terrace to the garden. This stair also functions as second mean of cirulation between the apartments in addition to the main internal staircase of the house. So to visit your neighbour you are provided with more than one option. Not only the kids love this multi-option circulation - it somehow breaks the boundaries of private and communal space. Especially in summertime the whole stair and the adjacing balconies and windows come to life.
The common room on the sixth floor is used for parties and festivities, but more important it additionally serves as a "flexible space" also. A space that can be used without notice from every „user“ of the house to extend its apartment-space temporarily.
We are aware that "flexible space" is a highly discussed subject and generations of architects have and will talk about it. For many reasons it is not easy or almost not possible to build apartments that allow to be extended or shrinked to the immeditate needs of the owners. In order to provide any kind of spatial flexibility one of our ideas was to offer slightly smaller apartments than usual, that actually can temporarily be "extended" by the use of the common room:
... be it the owner that lives on the groundfloor with little sun in wintertime that enjoys sunset in the evening in the common room on the roof level
... be it a musician who leaves the apartment for practicing in the common space.
... be it the mother who has to concentrate on her computer-work and flees into the common space from her kids in the own apartment..
Our Space is the attempt of promoting the use of public / common areas against the sole use of everybodies individual living space. Thus the attempt to extend the somehow „german“ practice and tradition of each individual living in its separated locked away space towards the consolidation of the use of the common spaces the house.
building / construction
As some of the first buildings in Berlin OUR SPACE used wood (Sibiran Larch) for cladding of the facade and also used wood for building the exterior walls of the house – the subconstruction.
Cellar, main interiror staircase, slabs and collumns are out of concrete. But no masonry and no styrofoam material were used. Special fire protection counselling was necesarry in order to accomplish this task since the building code of Berlin does not allow wooden construction and wooden cladding at once for buildings of this size. Therefore we had to prove that using wood in the intented manner would cause no risk – even if the building code says differet. Windows than also were made of wood. The wood on the facade ist not maschined nor sanded – one can feel its pure raw surface. A lot of walls and ceilings were kept in pure concrete and no further treatment was applied.
Our spatial and architectural goal by developing the project is best expressed through the title of the project: "Our Space". The name "Our Space" was meant to stress the communal aspect of the common spaces in the house and the garden and became during the process something like a guideline for the architecture. For example: The most appealing space in the house such as the prominent southwest facing little rooftop apartment on the sixth floor was realized not for a private apartment but as a common space (Gemeinschaftsraum) with a grand L-shaped roof-terrace in front. From this terrace a six story staircase attached to the outside of the building links all apartments and leads all the way from the roof terrace to the garden. This stair also functions as second mean of cirulation between the apartments in addition to the main internal staircase of the house. So to visit your neighbour you are provided with more than one option. Not only the kids love this multi-option circulation - it somehow breaks the boundaries of private and communal space. Especially in summertime the whole stair and the adjacing balconies and windows come to life.
The common room on the sixth floor is used for parties and festivities, but more important it additionally serves as a "flexible space" also. A space that can be used without notice from every „user“ of the house to extend its apartment-space temporarily.
We are aware that "flexible space" is a highly discussed subject and generations of architects have and will talk about it. For many reasons it is not easy or almost not possible to build apartments that allow to be extended or shrinked to the immeditate needs of the owners. In order to provide any kind of spatial flexibility one of our ideas was to offer slightly smaller apartments than usual, that actually can temporarily be "extended" by the use of the common room:
... be it the owner that lives on the groundfloor with little sun in wintertime that enjoys sunset in the evening in the common room on the roof level
... be it a musician who leaves the apartment for practicing in the common space.
... be it the mother who has to concentrate on her computer-work and flees into the common space from her kids in the own apartment..
Our Space is the attempt of promoting the use of public / common areas against the sole use of everybodies individual living space. Thus the attempt to extend the somehow „german“ practice and tradition of each individual living in its separated locked away space towards the consolidation of the use of the common spaces the house.
building / construction
As some of the first buildings in Berlin OUR SPACE used wood (Sibiran Larch) for cladding of the facade and also used wood for building the exterior walls of the house – the subconstruction.
Cellar, main interiror staircase, slabs and collumns are out of concrete. But no masonry and no styrofoam material were used. Special fire protection counselling was necesarry in order to accomplish this task since the building code of Berlin does not allow wooden construction and wooden cladding at once for buildings of this size. Therefore we had to prove that using wood in the intented manner would cause no risk – even if the building code says differet. Windows than also were made of wood. The wood on the facade ist not maschined nor sanded – one can feel its pure raw surface. A lot of walls and ceilings were kept in pure concrete and no further treatment was applied.
