On the southern edge of the spa town of Bad Nauheim, about 30 kilometres north of Frankfurt am Main, a new residential district is to be built. The proposal from Stefan Forster Architekten is for a group of three solitaire buildings, each different in shape and narrower at the southern end. Between the three L-shaped and T-shaped buildings are two south-facing courtyards for communal use, carefully landscaped to enhance the protected character of the ensemble. Access to the buildings is also via these courtyards. A continuous clinker-clad base storey and horizontal bands of fenestration alternating with clinker surfaces serve as a unifying element in the complex and give the façades an air of quiet, ordered calm. The buildings, each containing four apartments per floor, are constructed using a special kind of Poroton brick filled with mineral wool, a solution that optimises energy performance while retaining a traditional wall construction. Bike-sharing stations in the courtyard and charging points for electric cars in the basement car park are part of the sustainability concept.

Team:

Architects: Stefan Forster GmbH

Photographer: Lisa Farkas