Together
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
The residential apartment building “Together: A House for Families with Children” is a project within the framework of the model settlement "Bauherrengruppen Altkoenigblick" of the City of Frankfurt. The residents took an active role in determining the building design goals. The building underlines the wish of its residents to find a new home in a sustainably built, operated and inhabited house and to show this to the outside world.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
The residential apartment building “Together: A House for Families with Children” is a project within the framework of the model settlement "Bauherrengruppen Altkoenigblick" of the city of Frankfurt.
The house is comprised of two parallel apartment wings which are joined together by a common courtyard. The three level courtyard is a not only a meeting place for the residents but also provides a front “porch" entrance to the individual apartments, thereby creating a neighbourhood entrance.
Key objectives for sustainability
The concrete structure is coupled with a highly insulated wooden facade and clad with stained larch wood. Special attention has been given to the house's fenestration: The window areas are almost three times those of conventional buildings. The windows consist of thermally insulated wooden windows with triple glazing. Sun shading for all the windows is provided using external sliding shutters. The movable shutters allow for sun-shading during the day and privacy at night. The house far exceeds the requirements Efficiency House55 of the KfW ("heated passive house"). Additionally, all of the necessary preparations have been made for the installation of a photovoltaic system by the users.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The residents took an active role in determining the building design goals. The building underlines the wish of its residents to find a new home in a sustainably built, operated and inhabited house and to show this to the outside world.
The architects helped in co-creating the private and shared spaces and architectural qualities the 10 families had wished for and which they hadn´t found in a "standard" residential project.
Key objectives for inclusion
The building was designed with and for its inhabitants accommodating various sizes of apartments; including a micro apartment, a 130 m2 apartment for a large family, maisonettes with gardens and small 3 room apartments for single parent households. All the apartments feature private garden side balconies or terraces. The interiors offer open and coherent cooking-dining-living areas and private rooms for the individuals of the family. These living areas span between two facades (light!) and can, if desired, be subdivided.
Results in relation to category
The apartments and shared spaces were designed for the first 10 families, that moved in summer 2016. But everything can easily be adapted for the future, when the first children grow-up or new families move in. The neighborhood surrounding the projct has changed a lot in the past 5 years - many families have now moved to Frankfurt-Riedberg.
How Citizens benefit
The building houses a small pre-school on the ground floor which serves the neighborhood and infuses the house with additional laughter. From the common courtyard on the entry level, there are two community spaces for the residents. One of the spaces is flexible to be used as a storeroom or workshop. The other is a large common room with access to the west side garden and the east side courtyard. This room is furnished with a kitchen, a large dining table, a bathroom and energy-saving appliances including a washer and dryer.
Innovative character
The project has aroused much curiosity in the neighborhood of Frankfurt-Riedberg, which is characterized by the usual style of new construction by building investors. The design is unusual and deviates from the uniform residential construction of the new building district in many respects. From the outside, the colorful wooden facade is striking, but new architectural solutions have also been found on the inside.
There is no standard floor plan with rooms on both sides. All rooms are located where it is quiet: away from the street, towards the inner courtyard. The very wide hallways are used as rooms in front of the rooms, especially for playing, and the living and dining areas are particularly bright with windows on both sides.
Many balconies and terraces allow outdoor living. The quiet courtyard and the arcades promote communal living and everyday encounters.
