THE
SMART PRICE HOUSE: An exhibition of everyday life
The
project‘s mission is to address and satisfy the housing needs and desires of
present and future residents of Wilhelmsburg, and we believe that the proper
consideration of these aspirations can realize the promise of imaginative and
future-building conception worthy the IBA and the City of Hamburg. We feel this
objective is not in conflict with the necessarily innovative nature of a
project included in the IBA, but, on the contrary, it is because the design
aspires to root itself imaginatively on the actual conditions of the life of
real people in Wilhelmsburg, whether they reside there already or will move
there attracted by the success of the Wilhelmsburg Metrozone reinvention, that
a project will become an asset to the IBA and an inspiration and example to
people visiting the exhibition.

BOSQUETS
& PASSAGES
Committed
to the realization of a vision of Wilhelmsburg that considers not only it‘s
present but also it‘s future, the project embraces the idea of a new conception
of urban living based on the condition of „houses in the park,“ proposing a
residential building that can itself define the space between the landscape‘s
bousquettes, while at the same time being itself a „passage“ in the landscape,
as it is pierced and connected through by the pedestrian movement of its
residents. The proposed mass of the building is not only split in half, but
also staggered in plan, allowing better access to light and air for all
apartments. This arrangement defines two courtyards, one in the front as entry,
meeting place and bicycle parking space, and one in the back as a „forest of
swings“ playground facing the park and enjoying a southern exposure. The
required paved areas such as driveways and parking spaces are proposed in
grass-pavers to include as much green area as possible.

COILED
NEIGHBORHOOD ROAD
The
open spaces of Wilhelmsburg and the densification that implicitly comes with
the proposed development combine to create a vision of a building as a neighborhood
street spiraling around itself and creating a common space that harmonizes the
vertical and the horizontal to allow both the enjoyment of openness that comes
with living in a park and the closeness and intimacy of an urban dwelling. The
project aspires to a new synthesis that combines both the pleasure of living
amongst verdure and foliage and the convenience and companionship of human
proximity and the development of community. This materializes as an
organization of the apartments around a gently slopping access ramp that brings
all residents to their apartments while doing away with the need for stairs or
elevators and also helping the project comply with all the emergency egress
requirements as contemplated in the local building code. Although at the moment
the project does not contemplate the inclusion of a stairwell, where it to be
considered necessary or desirable for reasons other than code-compliance, it
could also be easily accommodated.

The
ramp provides a smooth continuity of experience from the public space of the
city to the interior of each apartment (as Frank Lloyd Wright maintained: „the
stair separates and the ramp unites“). We envision the ramp will become a
uniter of not only space but also people, a place for chance encounters with
neighbors, a non-orthagonal playspace for children and a zone for concerted
appointments between lovers. At the top of the building, the ascending
promenade culminates on a rooftop garden which could be given to the planting
of a vegetable orchard to be shared and enjoyed by the residents.

Given
the fact that Wilhelmsburg has already developed strong and active community
organizations with a unique and distinct style of urban living, the project
seeks to give architectural form and function to this reality already present
on the island. As another detail consistent with that ideal, we can mention the
project proposes on the ground floor a communal space for the use of all the
residents. the space is divided in two and separated by a large door. One half
is dedicated to youth and anticipates impromptu theatrical and musical
performances , dancing parties and homework help workshops. On the other,
grownup section, there should be a meeting table and chairs to discuss issues
of the building‘s management and maintenance but also just friendly talks with
friends, knitting classes or soccer match watching parties.

THE
MOST WITH THE LEAST
Economy
of construction will become the centerpiece of a strategy to propitiate quality
spaces for living that rely on simplicity of materials and labor and precision
of design to create a great home. The project proposes load-bearing aerated
autoclaved concrete (aircrete) block masonry as the main material of
construction for all walls, finished on the exterior with cementitious stucco
and on the interior with plaster or simply left exposed or painted. This
material is locally produced, and the unit proposed measures 600 (w) x 200 (h)
x 400 (d) and is composed of a pre-assembled composite including an internal
structural layer of 175mm, an intermediate insulation layer of 100mm and an
exterior aircrete layer of 125mm over which the stucco finish shall be applied.
The entire assembly contributes to create a wall with a U value of 0.13 W/m2K.
This prefabricated block monolithic construction has all of the environmental
advantages of a cavity multi-layer wall but is built in one operation,
providing significant construction savings. Furthermore, the aircrete blocks
are lightweight, have excellent environmental performance both as insulation
and in their production, and can be worked with simple woodworking tools. They
are strong enough to support the weight of the building without the need for
any structural columns and no steel reinforcing other than the usual horizontal
joint rebar and lintel beams over doors and windows.

The
remaining materials are simple, commonly available and known to builders and
dwellers alike, a fact that should propitiate savings and also allow people to
feel at home from the start. Floors are simple concrete outfitted with radiant
heat, perhaps convenient for families coming from cultures in which shoes are
not worn at home. Windows are insulated-glass outfitted with exterior
retractable sunshades, and the access ramp is made out of repetitive sections
of reinforced concrete spanning in between cantilevered sections of the
standard 200 mm thick two-way concrete slab.

The
ramp is separated from the dwellings by a luminous red wall made by alternating
one aircrete block with one 200 x 200 frosted glass block. This wall creates a
light-permeable membrane while also preserving privacy. During the night the
wall will also casts a glow onto the access ramp turning it into a radiant warm
heart at the center of the building.

One
other aspect that crucially contributes to the economy of the design is the
general design intention regarding the site and the possibilities it offers.
The proposed footprint of the building, 380m2 is actually small and well within
the 50% maximum site coverage allowed. Furthermore, the project proposes a site
design strategy that fits well with the general landscaping masterplan, the
proximity of other buildings and the adjacency to the park to the southeast.
Nonetheless, the project proposes the construction of 14 apartments,
approaching the limit of what is possible within the legal parking requirements
logically sustainable by the site. Our design team has chosen this avenue of
possibility in an attempt to provide homes for as many people as possible and
also to trigger an economy of scale that would lower the cost of construction
per square meter, making the apartments more accessible to families with
limited resources.

ARCHITECTURAL
INNOVATIONS: 270 x 4 = 360 x 3
The
elevations of the building are ruled by simple ordered patterns that direct the
weight of the masonry to the ground with a minimum need for beams and steel
reinforcement. This elevation is nonetheless not rigid, an expression (in
architectural terms) for a „Cosmopolis“, with a multitude of different rhythms
flowing through it, not unlike the multiplicity of backgrounds, cultures and
ethnicities of its anticipated inhabitants, for which it can be seen as a
metaphor. The proposed facade design though is not a superficial play of
compositional shapes, but rather the true expression of three factors that
define the articulation of the building‘s space:
1.
RAMPED ACCESS
The
ramp spirals up at the rate of 2.70 meters per turn, easily complying with
German regulations for maximum slope and allowing gentle access to different
apartments and defining a continuously harmonious sequence while ascending the
height of the building.
2.
VARIABLE SECTION
The
entire section of the building is composed of two complementary sequences
defined by: [2.70 x 4] = [3.60 x 3]. This allows most of the area of each
apartment (bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen) to have a ceiling height of 2.40
meters which is typical in projects of this type, but also allows one room
(living room/dining) to contain a more generous 3.30 meters. This combination
of heights allows for quality of living while preserving economy of
construction.
3.
THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WINDOWS
The
apartments are equipped with three (3) different window types, all in height
multiples of 20 cm, the size of the masonry block:
—small
[1.00 x 1.60] for bedrooms [1 or 2 each]
—medium
[1.50 x 2.00] for living rooms [2 each]
—large
[1.50 x 2.60] for living rooms [2 each] as French doors to serve as
balcony-like space
This
arrangement allows each room to enjoy ventilation, light and views in
proportion to its size while avoiding the expense of making all windows of
larger size, as well as the loss of quality of living in making them all too
small.

PALINDROMIC
FOOTPRINT
In
plan, the building is composed of two identical halves that are rotated,
displaced and linked by the ramp, thus avoiding the authoritarian connotations
of symmetry while still enjoying the economic advantages of building two nearly
identical halves. In construction, repetition means savings. The layout of the
apartments is also extremely simple and repetitive, but the adjacency of the
bedrooms allows configurations of two-room, three-room and four-room apartments
without substantial changes to the plan, through the simple device of opening
doors on one wall rather than another. This arrangement could even make it
possible from one neighbor to buy or purchase a room from another. The
possibilities are many, but as shown in this version, the project includes:
2
two-room apartments (1 of them barrier-free)
8
three-room apartments (2 of them barrier-free)
4
four-room apartments (1 of them barrier-free)
This
also allows the easy transmission of gravity loads to the ground and the
stacking of kitchens and bathrooms for plumbing economy. The arrangement of the
plan allows for the creation of 6 parking spaces under the building on the
ground floor. This preserves the enjoyment of the beauty of the park by
residents and visitors without the cluttered nuisance of a multitude of parked
cars.
Besides
the already mentioned community space, other facilities on the ground and
semi-sunken floor (only one meter below grade and 50 cm above the level of the
water table) include the necessary mechanical and storage spaces as required by
the Hamburg building code and the engineering systems designed into the project.

NOISE
CONTROL
A
preliminary analysis of required sound insulation levels for our proposal has
confirmed that the design will be able to accommodate noise control required
due the significant noise pollution caused by traffic in the area. Location,
orientation as well as the acoustic material properties of our Smart Price
construction proposal respond to these needs and will be further developed with
adequate detailing to ensure that threshold levels both in daytime and night
are not exceeded and that the dwellings are adequately protected from noise.

SUSTAINABLE
WILHELMSBURG
With
what we think might constitute an unusual arrangement for a residential
building in Hamburg, our project proposes an option of a fully mechanical
ventilated home interior as an example of sustainable innovation. For a full
description of the system please refer to the description of our Energy
Concept, while we can remark here upon its novelty as an example of the
„multi-talented“ innovations proposed by the project. This proposal might seem
counter-intuitive at first, but in the way it is being proposed, it will
increase the amount of used energy from renewable resources while increasing
independence from centralized systems and energy efficiency resulting in a
better-performing environment-friendly building. This option also provides
concrete advantages for it‘s inhabitants such as being able to condition the
spaces without opening windows and therefore protecting the interiors from
highway noise and airborne pollutants. This system would depend on the use of
geothermal heat-pumps and roof-mounted solar systems.