A Rear Building

Within walking distance of the university, three mini-apartments and two three-room apartments were built in a backyard to replace four garages that were no longer accessible. The building site is extremely small, so the entire buildable area is used as living space. The access is located in the open courtyard as a reinforced concrete structure in front of the house—the residential units are accessed via terraces. The building does not have a basement.

The location of the property within an already developed block of buildings meant that the units could only be lit and accessed from the courtyard side. In order to maximize the living space, the access was placed in front of it.

The house is a mixed construction of monolithic brick insulation masonry with a timber structure made of CLT solid wood elements. The use of these shell materials allows for direct contact—despite its somewhat brittle shell, the shell is always tactile and therefore approachable. Agglomarmor stone slabs were used for the floors and wall surfaces of the bathrooms – the use of these durable and robust materials ensures that the apartment building can withstand frequent tenant changes. The house is heated by a wood pellet heating system located in the basement of the front building. The underfloor heating is supported by decentralized ventilation systems with heat recovery, each separate in the residential units. Low energy standards are achieved. Connecting the rear building to the wood pellet heating system in the front building reduced the cost of building services.