URBAN HABITAT

The proposal of a new town house on Za Papírnou Street, is an urban solution to the need for affordable housing in the area. The house naturally defines the corner of the newly emerging block and offers housing to various interest groups: service apartments,  apartments for people with disabilities and for people from socially at-risk groups such as young families with children and single parents  in  social  housing  need. The design emphasises minimal energy consumption both during construction and through the life of the building. The plan layouts are made up of an efficient combination of 20 m² studio flats, 30 m² two-room apartments, 30 m²  disabled studio flats, 70 m²  three-room apartments. The design incorporates shared spaces, supporting natural interaction between residents.

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The building is divided by the 2 cores, which are generously illuminated and modulate the individual facades to both streets, revealing the common spaces of the house, which are designed as shared, containing residential elements for the residents. This community aspect of the spatial arrangement of the house is thus clearly articulated in the overall expression of the house.

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The ground floor of the building is articulated in a different way due to the different function. Large natural stones act as a visual hierarchy elevating the mass of the house. This space between the house and the street is thus dedicated to public amenities and solved by a very transparent facade surface.

Residents from these relatively small housing units are motivated to use common spaces, build neighbourly relationships and help and interact with each other. In the direction of the public, the house opens up to the public through its non-residential spaces, especially when considering the cafe, which is able to open part of the garden of the house in a controlled manner.