Apartment Building Forchstrasse

DENSIFICATION ON THE MAIN STREET
The new building replaces a property that is more than 70 years old, which, due to the continuous expansion of the city and the increased volume of traffic, no longer met today's requirements in terms of residential value, energy efficiency and noise protection.

QUIET LIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY
Both the shape of the building and the arrangement of the rooms take up the special noise situation. The apartments have been developed as a “noise typology” that is characterized by flowing room sequences, changing views of the quarter and noise-protected ventilation options. The tightrope walk between the ideal alignment of the rooms and living and sleeping away from the noise was solved in the apartment floor plans. Most rooms have windows facing away from the noise. In addition, the planned central apartment ventilation offers indoor air hygiene comfort and noise protection.

The materialization with a rear-ventilated facade as well as the optimized window area also take up the high requirements for sound insulation. In addition, the loggias are given high, soundproof parapets to create a quiet outside space.

COMPACT GENEROSITY
The structured building volume uses the irregular geometry of the property and maintains the typical local quality of traversing green spaces and permeability. Individual bay windows create accents in the otherwise restrained facades, while the horizontal structure supports integration into the surroundings. The special situation of the sloping topography is taken up by a split level on the ground floor and creates a high entrance hall.

The building has a reduced and clear design and has 4 apartment units per floor. The basic modules are compact, can be used flexibly in everyday life and are suitable for different types of living. All apartments are oriented to at least two sides, the balconies and openings are organized in such a way that there are no insight problems. Flowing room sequences and changing views of the quarter create a feeling of generosity and diversity despite the limited size of the apartments. The static and building services system enables long-term flexibility: planning flexibility through a simple structure, flexibility of use through room proportions, flexibility of use through non-load-bearing interior walls.

ENERGY CONCEPT
The project primarily relies on measures that keep the energy and resource requirements low during construction and operation. In addition to the optimal placement of the building on the property and energy-saving measures to reduce demand, renewable energies available at the location were used and merged with the volume and its surroundings to form a system unit.

A brine-water heat pump that uses geothermal energy is used for an efficient heat supply. In winter, the floor heating with low flow temperatures ensures pleasant room warmth, in summer the rooms can be passively tempered.

The concrete ceilings as well as the solid walls have a high heat capacity and function as a heat buffer regulating the rooms. The optimized proportion of window area and external shading prevent overheating in summer.

Overall, a new building is being developed from the site, which interacts with the surrounding area, reacts to the noise-exposed location and offers high quality of living spaces.

Material Used :
1. Facade cladding: AGROB BUCHTAL
2. Windows: Wood-metal windows, Jansen Cube
3. Window fittings: Mega 
4. Vanity: Alape, WT.QS325X, Alessi One
5. Mixer taps: Vola, 111
6. Knauf insulation - FKD-MAX C2 rockwool plasterbaseplaqte - Plasterbaseplate / insulation
7. Knauf - Aquapanel Cement Board Outdoor - Plasterbaseplate
8. Knauf insulation - TP 432 B Glass wool - Insulation
9. Agrob Craft - 9026-2120 white tiles - Facade cladding
10. Agrob Craft - 9022-2120 grey tiles - Facade cladding
11. Agrob Craft - 9022-21444 double pointed plategrey - Facade cladding
12. Agrob Craft - 9022-2150 waveprofilegrey - Facade cladding
13. Griesser - Soloscreen - Vertical awning
14. Griesser - G 2000 - Awning
15. Linea Light - OhPlaf - Ceiling lamp
16. Alape - WT.QS325X - Washbasin
17. Laufen - Alessi one - Countertop washbasin