our ageing population
Hauptstraße 16, 10827 Berlin, Germany, 2021
Teamwork with Viktoria Hevesi
curated by Prof. Lars Steffensen
Concept
Teamwork with Viktoria Hevesi
curated by Prof. Lars Steffensen
Concept
Located in the heart of Berlin’s Schöneberg district, the project is nestled on a plot which mediates between many characteristics, thereby dividing the site into two completely contradictory halves.
At the urban scale, we are presented with a loud and busy Haupt Straße which conflicts the quieter and slower backyard situation at Belziger Straße; the rigid street elevation to one side and the unfinished ad-hoc backyard to the latter. Secondly, the uneven building density of the plot as well as the long impermeable street and many typologies of existing buildings, has allowed us to take advantage and integrate these issues by tackling them with our new design. Facing these challenges, the building ensemble we have created becomes a harmonious middle-ground (or balance) that attempts to tie together and answer each aspect of the site at an architectural scale through the volume, materials, and program, alongside including some of the nearby currently vacant buildings as sustainable adaptive-reuse.
Elevation and Sections
At the programmatic scale, we are providing a residential complex for a generation that is often neglected by society, due to social constructs and stereotypes, yet it is a generation that still has much to offer. By presenting the elderly generation to the city, through this prominent site with additional programs - of library, gym, workshops and café - we are celebrating them and attempting to break such standardizations. Introducing a public space within the ensemble and creating a new path through the site was central to the idea of involving elderly in the community.
Ground floor axonometry
Ground floor plan
Workshop Area
Winter Garden
The apartments of the senior citizens have been composed of 4 different layouts, which are designed to meet the needs of elderly who are more independent to the more dependent ones.
Apartment Typologies
First Floor Axonometry
The buildings wrap around and frame a shared space encouraging multi-generational integration, as well as being composed of a series of atmospheres which help in guiding people with various physical or mental limitations.
Main Entrance
Informal Entrance
