Susi Weigel Kindergarten in Austria: Inspiration from Children's Story books

At the new kindergarten in Bludenz named for the well-known illustrator Susi Weigel, the interior design takes inspiration from motifs by the artist for children's story books. 
 

Architect: Bernardo Bader Architects
Location: Rungelinerstraße 14, 6700 Bludenz, Austria

All photos: Adolf Bereuter and David Schreyer

The minimalist style of the new buildings blends in harmoniously with the landscape, and it was in the same respect that Bernardo Bader Architects designed the outer façade with timber elements, underscoring the simple character of the two-story square building in the process. Large picture windows provide superb views of the surrounding mountain landscape and the meadows and woods of the Vorarlberg region. Indoors a gallery creates an expansive space with plenty of room for playing and romping. The individual classrooms are divided among the two storeys.

The colour scheme was the responsibility of Monika Heiss, who decided on pale, soft colours in hues ranging from yellow to blue. Implemented in the curtains, chairs, upholstered items and the rear walls of the coat racks, the colour concept sets bright accents against the walls and ceilings in wood and exposed concrete. The timber – namely fir indoors and pine on the outer façade – was sourced from domestic woods.

Site map 

Section

Ground floor plan 

First floor plan

Project data
Client: municipality of Bludenz
Colours / design: Monika Heiss and Brigitte Mumelter
Structural engineer: Brugger Ingenieure
Usable space: 1,200 m²
Certification: Passive house

Complete Facade Greening: High-Rise Apartment Building in Milan

Flora and fauna take on added importance in this exemplary living concept for increasingly densely populated metropolises by becoming an integral part of the building's shell.

Architect: Boeri Studio
Location: Milan, Italy

The shells of the two high-rise apartment buildings at Porta Nuova are not merely home to plants. Thanks to the 730 trees, 5,000 bushes and 11,000 ground covers planted on the large balconies, the towers have created space for a 'vertical forest', which has more than a unique appearance; it enables many other positive features as well. On the one hand, the green façade provides protection from the sun in the summertime and improves the microclimate for a better living atmosphere. On the other hand, the architects consider this project as a good example of 'increased density and anti-urban-sprawl measures' for the cities of the future, which will be more densely built than they are today.

Rendering of the high-rise apartment buildings, 112 m and 80 m 

In terms of both economy and ecology, the idea of not using valuable urban space for small-scale development, but rather offering enhanced quality of life even in stacked apartments, has been around since the beginning of the Modern era. However, what is new is the attempt to give this desire a clearly structured, aesthetic and – literally – natural face. Stefano Boeri describes the high-rises as 'biological architecture that derives from technically and mechanically based aspects of ecological sustainability'. For him, sustainability means not only preserving resources, but also the possibility to bring organic life into the building.

Geothermal energy 

Diagram of the protective 

function of the façade greenery 

Selection and anchoring of the plants 
Densely built urban spaces

Unlike in more conventional construction methods, the forest that was to be integrated into the building shell proved relatively complex. For example, the characteristics of all 40 of the tree types used here were precisely analyzed and even tested in a wind tunnel in order to determine the most suitable species for the requirements of height, wind strength and sunlight at every level of the building. The olive and pomegranate trees were anchored in the substrate layer of the concrete boxes with stable rigging belts. An automatic hose-watering system gives the plants the correct amount of water according to the season, direction, storey and species, while specially introduced insects keep vermin at bay.

Construction works in summer 2013 with façade greenery

All the garden work here is carried out by a gardening company- the associated costs will go largely unnoticed by the inhabitants of this building, which is categorized as luxury real estate. It remains to be seen whether Boeri's high-rises, which will be ready for occupation in 2014, will prove to be an affordable model for the future, and whether it will be possible to keep the promises made by these impressive renderings.

Guided Light: Residential Building in Toyokawa

Despite façades without a single opening and being located on a heavily shaded plot, the residential building by mA-style Architects in Toyokawa is flooded with daylight. Thanks to skilful guiding of sunlight into the building and use of reflective inner walls, the interior is airy and full of light.

Architect: mA-style architects, Japan
Location: Toyokawa-City, Aichi, Japan

Photo: Kai Nakamura

The building site is situated on plot shaded to the south by a two-story building right next to it. For this reason the architects Atsushi Kawamoto and Mayumi Kawamoto wanted to create a house that would receive as much daylight as possible for the interior. The building, with its white façade in large wooden panels, initially creates a withdrawn and fairly closed-off impression.

Site map: mA-style architects

A skylight outlines the roof at the top of the approximately square cube, letting in sunlight to the interior, where it is divided by lower-lying roof beams and reflected and diffused by slightly angled clapboard walls. The soft and evenly distributed light fills the entire inner space and to an extent also frames it.

Photo: Kai Nakamura

Photo: Kai Nakamura

Photo: Kai Nakamura

Kitchen, bathroom and work spaces are set below the outline formed by the skylight. Privacy, seclusion and storage are provided for in four boxes of differing sizes and arranged in seemingly haphazard fashion. The pathways and open spaces formed between them are conceived as communication and public zones. 

Exploded drawing: mA-style architects 

Section: mA-style architects

Ground floor plan: mA-style architects

Loft floor plan: mA-style architects

Section: mA-style architects

Photo: Kai Nakamura 

This "living platform" is set off from the circumferential "work corridor" in terms of height and material by a low wooden plinth that differentiates the private and communal area from the concrete path-like perimeter. The building has no doors apart from the entrance ones, and ladders provide access to the openings on the second level of the box rooms.

Photos: Kai Nakamura

The configuration of the interior space is somewhat reminiscent of a small town within a larger one, with the public zones and passageways fulfilling the function of plazas or paths between the cubes grouped around them like small houses. It was in this way that the architects sought to imbue the house with flexibility and a diversity of uses for its occupants.

Photo: Kai Nakamura 

Photo: Kai Nakamura

Photo: Kai Nakamura

A Street Reinvents Itself: Apartment House in Amsterdam

Over the past ten years, a street in Amsterdam's old Bellamy district has been nearly completely renovated in a project organized by private individuals, residential real-estate developers and the municipality. With this new home, the Amsterdam architecture studio M3H has made its mark on the project.

Architects: M3H architecten, Amsterdam
Location: Wenslauerstraße Nr. 65-69, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Photo: Tobias Bader

In 2005, the City of Amsterdam awarded the contract for an urban-planning-based analysis of the Bellamy district, which was in need of renovation. The studies documented the sun exposure in the narrow lanes and showed that extending the generally small houses would be possible at certain points. Moreover, it was determined that the irregular street alignment and the height of the buildings should remain the same. The wide diversity of façades was to be maintained as a characteristic of the neighbourhood. The results showed that conversion and renovation work would be both affordable and of economic interest to residents.

Before the measures

Rendering: M3H architecten

With these prerequisites in mind, M3H architecten designed a building volume featuring five different living units on Wenslauerstraat. Numbers 65 and 67 are single-family dwellings which have one storey and a garden in the back. Their saddleback roofs are steeply inclined towards the lane and allow more than enough daylight to shine into the north-facing living units and onto the street.

Photo: Tobias Bader

Photo: Tobias Bader

Photo: Tobias Bader

Photo: Tobias Bader

Number 69, which has three storeys, continues the eaves line of the neighbouring building and offers enough space for three small apartments. All three buildings have individual spatial qualities, such as  different outdoor areas and views.

The façade, sloping roof surface, dormers and gables have been fitted with vertical wooden slats which give the three buildings their unified appearance. This creates the effect of a sculptural volume and complements the diversity of houses in the district.

Floor plan and section: M3H architecten 

Floor plan and section: M3H architecten

Photo: Allard van der Hoek

For the cladding, the architects used untreated, FSC-certified tropical wood. This will have uniformly turned grey within two years. They paid special attention to the rear-ventilated wooden façade, for the Dutch climate is quite damp. The functionality of the ventilation system is backed up by a two-layer subconstruction, and the bevelled front side of the slats allows water to drip off.

It was particularly important to the architects to make wood as a building material a better-known, more attractive option for Dutch architecture. The question remains whether wooden façades are suitable to the Dutch climate and whether they must be made of tropical wood.

Backside, photo: Allard van der Hoek

Photo: Tobias Bader

Photo: Tobias Bader
 

Sketch: M3H architecten

Project data
Client: Sticks & Stones Developments Ltd.
Site: 305 m²
Gross floor area: 440 m²
Cost: Euro 660,000
Structural engineer: TenTij Bouwadviesbureau
Contractor: Structure Building
Completion: March 2013