Residential buildings for town and country

The winners of the “Residential Building of the Year 2021” architecture competition have found remarkable answers to some of the important questions facing developers and architects today.

Winners in a double pack: the jury for the “Residential Building of the Year 2021” award has decided to award two first prizes. The two winners have each found exemplary solutions to two pressing challenges facing architects in German-speaking countries. The “Ortsverbundenheit” project deals with building in rural areas. “Gleis 21” seeks answers to the housing shortage in metropolitan areas.

Find out which project won the “Residential Building of the Year 2020” award here.

The “Ortsverbundenheit” project by architects CAPE Prof. Markus Binder and schleicher.ragaller in Schwaikheim, a community of 10,000 inhabitants in Stuttgart’s commuter belt, resulted in an apartment building and a large workshop building(see Baumeister 9/21). The architects’ achievement, which was recognized as part of the “Residential Buildings of the Year 2021”, is that they have developed a convincing common design language for this ensemble. While combined residential and working buildings – farms, small businesses – used to characterize the landscape, contemporary interpretations of this type are almost completely absent. The architects and client wanted to strengthen the village character with the new building in the village center and have a positive impact on the surroundings through high-quality construction. The two buildings also set an example against the single-family house monoculture and redefine the center of the community as a place where manufacturing work is present alongside living and commerce.

The “Gleis 21” residential building, on the other hand, was built in Vienna’s 10th district in the immediate vicinity of the new Vienna Central Station. The architects from einszueins Architektur were not only the contractors for this construction project, but also co-initiated it themselves. In contrast to a traditional building group, the association “Wohnprojekt Gleis 21” remained the owner of the entire completed building, instead of each member becoming the owner of an apartment. The jury for the “Residential Building of the Year 2021” award also found the residents’ social commitment remarkable in other respects. For example, they also created living space for refugees in their new building. In general, community plays a central role in “Gleis 21”. This is why numerous public indoor and outdoor spaces are intended to create a close sense of togetherness. For the competition, architects and residents titled their submission “We are bringing the village into the city”.

In addition to the two first places, the jury of the “Residential Building of the Year 2021” competition awarded three commendations. Two Berlin projects are close to “Gleis 21” in their approach. Both are projects that were realized by building groups. The “Shared Space Malmöer” project was designed by Christoph Wagner Architekten and Wenke Schladitz as a pergola house with 22 apartments. The jury was impressed by the idea of raising the level of the kitchens adjacent to the arcades by two steps. This means that they cannot be seen from the arcade. The residents of this building group house are also socially involved. For example, a neighborhood store that was previously located on the property has found a new home on the first floor of the “Shared Space Malmöer”.

The “Walden 48” residential building was designed by ARGE Scharabi Raupach. The architects had to take into account both the busy Landsberger Allee and the historic cemetery wall of the Georgen-Parochial cemetery. The upper floors of the building cantilever over the latter on one side. The building was constructed entirely of timber and thus demonstrates solutions for the sustainable construction of larger residential buildings – “Walden 48” accommodates 43 apartments between 46 and 145 square meters.

The “Stadthäuser Finkenau” project in Hamburg takes a completely different approach to urban construction. A total of 24 developers have built spacious terraced houses with the architects DFZ, Klaus Schönberg, APB and Adam Khan. The buildings are largely identical in their overall form, but differ in their façade design. Uniformity is created by the consistent use of red brick facing bricks. However, the architects have chosen different bricks, some of which they have used ornamentally. The jury of the “Residential Building of the Year 2021” competition not only found the architectural design worthy of an award, but also the fact that the architects and developers opted for townhouses rather than detached single-family homes. As a result, prestigious residential architecture could be created while still keeping the use of space within reasonable limits.

You can find out which projects won awards in the “Houses of the Year 2021” competition here.