Apartment Building in Munich
- Heide Wessely
Schwabing is one of Munich’s most popular neighbourhoods, but it too has its difficult locations, such as Belgradstrasse, a busy street with heterogeneous urban fabric. Partly on account of the neighbouring transformer station and the subway tunnel, the site had been vacant for a number of years. The owner, the City of Munich, decided to erect a building combining subsidized housing and a hub for street-cleaning equipment. The special feature is a generously scaled veranda-like circulation cloaked in a grey stucco facade. It not only plays a role in the circulation, but also creates a buffer between the loud city and the individual sphere of privacy. As if in a theatre box, residents may survey the activity on the street below, while at night, as soon as the yellow wall is illuminated, they change from members of the audience to performers. Then the “luminaire” becomes a stage set. Openings cut out of the floors furnish vertical views. The entrances to units are paired, a situation that fosters neighbourly relations. All 28 apartment units are wheelchair accessible; some have the option to annex a neighbouring unit. The architects achieved a high standard by inventively employing inexpensive building materials such as the simple basement lights in the street-cleaners’ break room, or by exposing ductwork in the two-storey subterranean parking garage. On the ground floor a variety of amenities – including an outdoor break space – are available to the fifty employees.
