03_CARAMEL ARCHITEKTEN | Residential building at krautgarten

NAME

Project title: Residential building at krautgarten

Recommending party
The project has been submitted by: Caramel Architekten zt-gmbh

LOCATION
Country: Austria

City: Vienna

Address: am krautgarten 17, 1220 Vienna

AUTHOR

Designer or design team architects:

Caramel Architekten zt-gmbh

DETAILS  

Plot Area: 1250 mq

Gross Area: 2705 mq

Of which residential: 95%
Public/communal areas: 5 %
Facilities for the public:
Business/trade:
Offices:

Number of residential units: 17
Typology of users: families, old aged people, students, other
Total building costs Euros: 2.080.000
Building Cost = Total Bulding Cost / Gross Area: 769
Floor area ratio = Gross Area / Plot Area: 2,16
Work started on date: 8/2009
Work completion date: 12/2010

OWNERSHIP 

Promoter: Bauhlife gemeinnützige GmbH/ meidlinger haupystr 11
Allotment rule: 1:1
Reduction cost percentage compared to the market value:
– assignement 30% residential construction loan
– rent 30 %

Description of the project: 

concept
the property lies in a green zone at the periphery of vienna and is surrounded by small houses and small apartment complexes.
the atmosphere that future tenants associate with this site is one of “living in green surroundings”, ideally: one’s own house and garden.
the intention is to also convey this atmosphere in the housing project itself. the individual apartments are designed as separate houses with multiple floors and various views of the surroundings. the individual units are interlocked and fit together to create the overall structure.
although the krautgarten project is a four-story building, each individual living unit was designed to be as self-contained as possible.
each apartment, therefore, has its own floor plan and the various loggias and balconies allow the outside observer to recognize each unit as a distinct “house”.
private yards, roof gardens, loggias, and balconies provide each apartment with various levels of direct contact to the green surroundings – like a house surrounded by grass and trees.
the individual internal structure of the building gives the outer shell a playful character as a positive atmosphere in a functional unit “for living”.
this is emphasized by the haptic impression of the very course plaster of the building exterior and the cheerful choice of colors.

urban development
from an urban development perspective the site is located in a very heterogeneous environment.
the corner of the building facing the public traffic area assimilates the main directions of the adjacent buildings.
a green zone is produced along the street as a buffer between public and private space.

architecture / organization
the main target group for this housing development with “green” surroundings at the periphery of the city comprises young families and the like. more than half of the apartments have their own gardens; the rest have terraces or loggias.
in addition, the apartments – mainly terrace-house-style duplex units ¬– feature a high degree of individuality; the differences in the apartments can also be seen in the exterior design and the façade. the loggias (“eyes”) indicate the living rooms; the smaller windows arranged in varying patterns mark the bedrooms.

engineering/ecology/economy
the building was erected according to the criteria of a low-energy house.
the steel-reinforced concrete construction with a coarse plaster façade and full thermal insulation guarantee minimal heat loss and protection from overheating during the summer months. this is also enhanced by the loggias situated at the front of the large glazed surfaces of the living room. the prefabricated components with coated surfaces support externally mounted sun shades.
the construction method and organization are basically quite simple and the number of entry areas has been kept to a minimum thus ensuring a very economical structure.

located virtually at the “heart” of the building, at the geometrical center of the ground floor, and adjacent to the stairwell is a multipurpose zone and children’s play area with a sandbox and monkey bars.

common zone (play and meet)
the common zone consists of a wooden surface including a large sunken area for playing with sand and a vulcanized rubber play area with a hill. in addition, there is a long multipurpose element good for both sitting and lying on. despite its small size, the area is intended as a space where residents can meet, talk, and play together.