The area between the railway line and Außenmühlenteich pond in the Wilstorf district is characterised by a heterogeneous mix of residential buildings: it includes simple apartment buildings from the Wilhelminian era, detached houses and a 1960s housing estate with multi-storey apartment buildings and a small supermarket. The discount store at the Wasmerstraße/Reeseberg intersection was abandoned at the turn of the millennium and eventually demolished. The new owner of this corner plot, Bauverein Reiherstieg eG, wanted to see urban, space- and cost-saving residential construction here. Renner Hainke Wirth Zirn Architects developed three diamond-shaped buildings and placed them precisely between the beautiful existing trees.

The building at the intersection has five floors, while the other two have four floors each. A total of 37 light-flooded flats (including 19 publicly subsidised flats) with two to four rooms and living spaces ranging from 45 to 110 m² were created. In addition, a daycare centre for 34 children in two groups was accommodated on the ground floor of the building on Reeseberg. All other ground floor apartments have a private outdoor area in front of them. All buildings are accessed via centrally located stairwells, and the five-storey building also has a lift. The recessed building entrances are clad with a natural stone façade. Inside, all residents are greeted by floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Together with the warm colour scheme of the stairwell and the textured tile strips in the basement staircase, this creates spacious, high-quality access areas. The façades of the three new buildings mediate between the different neighbourhoods through their materiality and structure. The wraparound floor-to-ceiling windows, the sheltered loggias facing the public street and the curtain balconies facing the courtyards respond to the cardinal directions and existing buildings. The façade material consists of individually folded aluminium sheet. The vertical strips run across the entire height of the building and are interrupted only by the window frames and the interplay of the horizontally offset floor bands. The sheet metal joints are offset at the window openings, creating a varied, flat overall façade appearance. The edging and colour of the façade panels evoke associations with a champagne-coloured pinstripe suit. The buildings were constructed to the KfW Efficiency House 55 standard and equipped with a green roof, air heat pump, underfloor heating and triple-glazed thermal insulation.

www.rhwzarchitekten.de

Photography Credits:

Stephanie Brinkkötter
www.brinkkoetter.com

(Featured in CUBE Hamburg 04|23)