Dirty Harry
In the St. Johann neighborhood of Basel, located in the district of Lysbüchel near the French border, the Habitat Foundation, purchased a former warehouse area of a trading company, while also leasing parts of it for construction. In which the architects of the building are involved as initiators, planners, and residents as part of a cooperative. The "Dirty Harry" residential building is located in an urban block with a free inner courtyard. Coming from the city center, the facade, designed in raw materials like clay bricks, concrete, and wooden roller shutters. A four-story-high bay window turns towards the arriving visitors with a slight turn and creates an inviting entrance. Behind this appearance lies not only an urban gesture that distinguishes this building within the block perimeter. More than a well-considered facade design, it is a pronounced expression of a sophisticated floor plan that meets the demands of contemporary living space. As one approaches the building and follows the rising sidewalk, one passes a low, thick concrete wall that
belonged to the former inventory of a warehouse. Precisely placed cuts, in order to maintain access to the entrance and a comfortable height as a boundary marker, have created cut surfaces in addition to the patinated concrete surfaces, which make the historical layering of the site apparent.
To the street side, the residential building has seven stories, and due to the difference in terrain level, it has eight stories facing the courtyard. The vertical order of the facade is determined by the strictly arranged high-rectangular windows, which gain even more vertical emphasis from the aluminum guide rails. The facade is loosened up by the beautiful large wooden frame windows and the lively color of the clay bricks used for the non-load-bearing double-shell walls.
In total, eleven apartments are housed on five regular floors and a recessed top floor, which can contain between 2.5 and 4.5 rooms depending on their arrangement via switching rooms. In addition, the basement level contains storage rooms and a laundry room, while the top floor includes a commercial kitchen for shared or rental use, a guest room, and a covered rooftop terrace. The building core, stairwell, and ceilings are made of exposed concrete, which serves as the horizontal dividing element of the facade. The bay windows facing the street and courtyard are part of a space layer that runs through all floors, also housing the building's circulation system. The slight 10-degree twist from the two firewalls creates unexpected spatial arrangements within the apartments. Upon entering the apartment and looking towards the balconies, one does not realize that they are looking through the kitchen. It is these perspective gems and
spatial trickery that make living here enjoyable.
The levels of the apartments that form the boundaries between rooms are made up of hard concrete, screed, and clay brick surfaces. Light birchwood surfaces act as an antidote to this hardness. These full- height surfaces, slightly offset from the ceiling and floor, are used as room dividers, doors, or even form entire rooms. All installations are built-in, and the enclosed space is cleverly utilized, leaving no space wasted. The eye wanders undisturbed over concrete and wood surfaces towards the exterior walls and windows, towards the light.
