This concept for multi-family housing is a competition-winning proposal for “SMART-Wohnen”, Vienna’s pilot program for compact, adaptable and affordable housing aimed at singles and young families. 

As a prototype for the new social housing program, the project was developed from inside out, beginning with the innovative structure of the apartments themselves. The concept uses a simple planning systematic. The unit’s wet spaces – bath, toilet, kitchen – are integrated into a freestanding block that “floats” between the apartment’s inner and outer carrying walls; the rest of the living spaces are organized around this core. And so the programmatic zones of living become a kit of parts, which can be combined into a variety of floorplans that can fit each household’s individual needs and desires. Crucial for this systematic flexibility are the multifunctional “SMART” and “PLUS” zones; these open-program spaces “expand” the size and usability of the living areas. These spaces can be used in different ways during the course of a day, and can be reconfigured as household needs change and evolve over the years. 

 The SMART/PLUS idea is that the project contains two categories of flats. 50% of all units fulfill the City of Vienna’s SMART-Wohnen guidelines. These units feature extra-compact floorplans, yet they still reflect classical Viennese expectations for two- and three-room residences. The rest of the project are PLUS apartments. These utilize the flexibility of the PLUS-zone to create variety of innovative floor plans: the number of rooms is variable, and the final layout of the flat can be determined by the occupants themselves. 

The two categories of apartment share the same tract-depth in floorplan, and the project is organized into three simple, yet robust double-loaded buildings with central atriums. 

All apartments feature large and prominent balconies. The architectural language is generated out of the rhythmically differentiated projections of these balconies, which – accentuated by the silver-blue coated, perforated-aluminum balustrades of the balcony fronts – produces a powerfully sculpted play of light and shadow, set-off by a soft, metallic sheen.