The new structure offered the opportunity to create additional residential space while also improving the dull backyard of the eleven-storey building bordering the street, enclosed by tall walls. The arrangement of the new four-storey building volume and its one-storey annex allows creating two separate open spaces: a garden with lush greenery and meandering pathways, as well as a small private interior courtyard in white, accessible only through a passageway on the ground floor, traversing the new building. This secluded courtyard wards off outside views and accesses the apartments. Stairs and walkways structure the space vertically and lead to the access balconies on the upper floors, as well as the shared terrace on the annex roof. The contrasting character of the two different open spaces is made apparent by the building as well: Along the garden, it displays a timber facade reminiscent of Japanese architecture. Facing the private courtyard, it is clad in white laminated white panels.
Altogether 14 new apartments were created. The lower two floors feature ten small apartments with one to two rooms each. Four maisonette apartments with three rooms each are situated on the two upper floors. The floor plans display a clear functional organisation: Kitchens and bathrooms are oriented towards the east and the access balconies. Living rooms and bedrooms with adjacent balconies face the garden in the west. This allows cross ventilating apartments. Sliding doors between living rooms and bedrooms give residents the opportunity to switch between an open floor plan and separated, enclosed rooms. The room height french doors facing the garden can be concealed by use of shutters as required. The interchangeable arrangement of open and closed surfaces provides the strictly organised facade with a playful character. The timber construction set in front of the facade creates appealing open spaces and, at the same time, protects the Douglas fir facade cladding from sunlight and rain. The white paint finish on the ends of the timber beams protects the material as well and offers a lively contrast to the brown hues of the timber facade.
The architects opted for a timber construction with a load bearing structure made of spruce combined with prefabricated facade elements - not only for ecological reasons. The construction site is located on top of an existing below-grade parking garage and, after all, timber constitutes a lightweight building material. The situation of the enclosed interior courtyard lacking direct access from the street was a challenge for the planning team as well. The aim was to avoid nuisances to the residents of the existing building facing the street. For this purpose, the architects decided to use the parking garage for the construction site logistics. As a result, the size of prefabricated elements was limited to 2.30 × 3.50 m.
