Inner-city redensification as a highly worthwhile form of living: a joint building venture with whom the property owner’s son was acquainted used the attic space of a typical 19th century gründerzeit building as an excellently located development site. Hardly visible from the street, a unique world unfolds 16 metres above ground level, offering panoramic views over the city.
Tucked into the newel of the staircase, a discreet elevator halts in the open in a small public space, surrounded by an arrangement of slightly receding cubic structures facing the street.
The apartments – a sequence of differently proportioned high rooms as an interior result of playfully observing strict framework conditions – are directly accessible from there. Window openings facing all directions capture the daylight, and a homogenous layer of rendering clads a highly individualised interior. No one terrace overlooks the other. Just like a little Tunisian village.
Together with each group of occupants, the apartments were designed in individual workshops. For some, strict privacy already began there, while others provided us with a description of their lives and let us get on with the rest.