In the course of a planning selection process for construction site 7 of the former Nordbahnhof in Vienna, we were commissioned with two buildings facing each other. The construction site is characterized by a two-line building arrangement that serves as a permeable filter layer between the city and the public park "freie Mitte" near the tracks. The volume of the street-side row of buildings is clearly structured by staggering the height of individual components and recesses. Generous passageways open the edge of the block and allow visual axes into the green across the residential quarter.

White

In our design, we arrange the 46 units (private housing) on eight floors around a particularly compact, central staircase and dispense with natural lighting in order to maximize the living space. We install large-format light walls that bathe the interior in atmospheric white and pursue the exterior design of the building inside. 

The elegant exterior appearance is based on a consistently monochrome design of the façade and balconies. Unlike a cool, modernist living cube this radiates individuality and human warmth in its varied formulation.

Large-format light changes bathe the entrances to the apartments in atmospheric white.

Rose

With a subtle colored accent, we emphasize the center of the building row. The total of 52 apartments are equipped with spacious balconies in two versions. One variant opens up to the sides, the second to the front. Inside the green block we combine both variants to create different qualities of stay and  public use. To the Bruno-Marek-Allee, only the less insightful variant is used.

The staggering of the building counteracts a hermetic closure of the street and enlivens the street row.