Terrace House Tokiostrasse

ARTEC Architekten designed the ‘Terrace House Tokiostrasse’ in Vienna, Austria.

Description from the architects:

Analogous to the Town Musicians of Bremen (donkey, dog, cat, and rooster), this reinterpretation of terrace houses involves stacking different apartment types atop one another.

A variety of basic apartment types with their own designated outdoor spaces are stacked up, creating a new typology:

Ground floor: ceiling height 4.40 m, garden in front

Above it: maisonette, facing on to an atrium courtyard

Above it: 2-story row house with terrace

Above it: allotment-garden “house” and garden

Flats with double-story loggias complete the roster.

This typology is capable of assimilating the zoning restrictions; the superimposition of the actual site results in one wing oriented to the west, with double-story loggias as a buffer to the street.

With its band-like filter element, the facade – soon to be engulfed in wisteria – presents itself to Tokiostrasse in high relief.

On the east side, and oriented toward the center of the site, the “stack” typology is put to work.

Coupled with the second wing, which is oriented to the west, it gives rise to a sculpted courtyard space – its specificity originates in the various ways the individual terraces are planted.

The orientation and spatial termination of the different apartment types provide protection from one another’s prying eyes.

The apartment building’s circulation is made up of a spacious open hall which seems to have slid in between the wings, and, on the east edge of the site, a Laubengang (both as a glazed and open veranda-like walkway, this circulation system has a long tradition in Central Europe), which protects residents from the elements, creates the building’s edge definition.

To the south and north, the wings running along the property lines and enclose the courtyard are only two stories high (the first and second stories). These apartments block neither the neighboring buildings’ sunlight nor their view, and the building massing has been modulated, to arrive at small-scale structuring.

The ribbon of planting at the center of the complex is linked to the streetscape via the open ground floor zone.

Ecology

The sculptural building massing is articulated to provide the apartments with a pronounced southern orientation.

Every apartment has its own adjoining outdoor space – each potentially a compact garden. In addition, the residents have access to the roof surface atop the west wing, with its green terrace, swimming pool and sun deck; the playgrounds on terraces are situated at “mid-level”, and the ground-level courtyard is a recreational area and playground, as well.

A playroom faces the courtyard; another double-story, multi-purpose room is located on the first floor. A wine cellar with earthen floor rounds out the shared spaces.

Trees were planted in part of the courtyard, and the entire space was landscaped.

The garage’s skylights also double as seating and illuminaires in the courtyard.

All apartments are cross-ventilated; the kitchens and bathrooms receive daylight and have natural ventilation.

The building’s exterior is characterized by the atrium and its vegetation, and by terrace spaces; a high degree of permeability at street level makes the building appear to be lightweight. The arcade facing the street and the bay-windows zones offer protection from the elements and a place to play on a rainy day.

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