The housing modules, now four storeys high, are timber elements inserted in what was once a two-storey strip with brick outer walls and a concrete intermediate floor. On the northern face, a one-metre-wide void separates the existing brick facade from the new timber wall. The 1.64-metre-wide intermediate space on the south side, in contrast, serves as an access gallery. At second-floor level, the existing concrete floor bears the loads of the inbuilt timber elements. Along the south face in front of these, it provides a narrow terrace between the new timber wall and the brick facade, and on the north side it acts as an access gallery. Above the ground and second floors, additional intermediate levels were inserted. Here, the access galleries consist of precast concrete slabs laid on laminated timber grids. Integral glass blocks allow the joints to the existing building to appear lighter, while nevertheless ensuring the requisite fire protection.
The architects have replaced the glazing to the factory windows with filigree metal gratings as protection against falling and to allow fresh air to flow through the building. Along the access galleries, gratings in front of the dwelling windows allow cross-ventilation even when residents are absent. The existing outer brick skin forms a buffer zone, which helps save heating costs in winter, and which contributes to cooling in summer on account of the building mass and the shading it provides. FK
