Urbanstraße 11
A differentiated vegetation and simple, elegant materials create a surprising oasis inside a densely and inhomogeneous built city block.
A varied choice of housing forms for families and other user groups is fit tightly within a limited urban space. Therefore the finely balanced equilibrium between private and communal spaces is crucial. Areas of different privacy flow into each other without hard barriers, giving the space an atmosphere of mediterranean ease. The town houses’ privately used wooden decks distinguished between a sheltered part behind wooden screens and an open part toward the brick wall along the property line. Users control the degree of interaction with their neighbours by moving the terrace furniture.
The neighbourhood’s kids are using the connecting path between courtyard and playground as an additional space for play. It marks at the same time a buffer space towards the neighbouring property. Wooden seating boxes create a protective distance without disrupting the view to the court.
The open space layout has proved itself in practice, helping to create a harmonious neighbourship quickly.
Minimal variety of materials for maximal conciseness:
Horizontally and vertically oriented wooden surfaces repeat throughout the space. Their repetition gives a common identity to the nooks and crannies of the site. Moreover they imply a connection with the site’s former use as a carpentry’s storage yard. The strong framework gives a letter case like base for the individual appropriation of space.
A special place is created with a threepart wooden deck converging around a single tree. The multiuse meeting area marks the neighbourhoods heart.
Pathways inside the court have loosely gravelled and compacted surfaces. Sidewalks in front of the building blend seamlessly into the environment by employing commonly used Munich sidewalk flagstones.
The playground, located in the northern corner of the site, goes with the general design principle comprising a wooden deck and a flowering perennial frame. The several storey firewall at the playground’s front end is used for ballgames and radiates it’s warm colours.
A single tree creates a special focus inside the yard. The property’s edges are framed with lush greenery, not only employing hedges and climbing plants, but mainly perennials. Plantation combines specifically chosen, shade loving perennials. Sturdy groundcovers, as Luzula sylvatica and Bergenia cordifolia come together with flowering specimen as Astilbe chinensis var. pumila and Gillenia trifoliata to create a seasonally hanging carpet.
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