This building assignment presented unique challenges on multiple fronts. First and foremost, the goal was to create a residential building with maximum usage flexibility. From the outset, it was clear that its initial use as transitional housing for refugees would span only a few years. Multiple usage scenarios were developed for the subsequent period: from student housing to shared living arrangements and conventional residential use. Secondly, the site was a defunct sports field surrounded by residential neighborhoods and extensive existing vegetation.

From the beginning, Freivogel Mayer Architekten recognized that a conventional residential architecture would be inappropriate for this location. Consequently, the planners adopted a largely autonomous formal language that communicates with the surrounding greenery through both the folded exterior envelope and its color palette. The building was also designed to avoid associations with a refugee shelter. Instead, the architects were committed to creating a distinctive, identity-forming address despite the structure's composition of eight identical modules. To enable flexible use of the building, minimizing load-bearing elements in the interior was a crucial design principle. The covered open circulation zone between the two building wings serves as an accessible community and communication area for residents.

The load-bearing components were constructed using solid wood hybrid construction with a massive skeletal frame of columns and flat slabs, while the exterior envelope was built as timber frame construction. To achieve the desired precision and ensure economical execution within a tight schedule, the entire timber facade construction was almost completely prefabricated. The construction drawings were transferred to the timber construction contractor via a digital 3D model, which served as the basis for CNC manufacturing. For facade insulation, blown wood fiber insulation and wood fiber plasterboard were selected to achieve a positive CO₂ balance in combination with locally sourced softwood from the Northern Black Forest. The exceptionally high building insulation standard minimizes the connection load to the municipal district heating network. The residential building, with a gross floor area of 1,190 m², meets the Primary Energy Demand Standard A, thereby achieving 32 percent below the Energy Saving Ordinance standard.

www.freivogelmayer.de
www.pforzheimer.de

Photography Credits:

Dietmar Strauß
www.dietmar-strauss.de

(Published in CUBE Stuttgart 01|22)