ARGE Atelier Thomas Pucher & Bramberger architects
Jõekaare Residential Tower
best architects 11
multi-family homes
Place
Tartu | Estland
Studio
Photos
Lukas Schaller | Wien
Description
Jõekaare Residential District was the winning scheme of an international competition. The site is a former industrial area in the suburbs of Tartu. The River Tower is the first building of the scheme to be realized. When finished, a total of nine buildings with 440 flats for roughly 1,000 inhabitants will be built here. The building is organized in a very simple and compact way. It is a simple box with an optimum volume-surface ratio. The lobby, with the staircase and its spiral atrium, is in the centre of the building. The flats are arranged around this centre like a ring with a clear separation in two zones. The inner part is formed by a continuous service ring. It houses entrances, wardrobes, toilets, bathrooms and saunas, sometimes kitchens. All infrastructural elements are compressed in this area, thus providing a noise barrier to the lobby. The outer part is embodied by the spacious living ring, oriented to the sun and the view. It provides flexible space without load bearing elements. Thus it is possible to organize it individually with lightweight walls. The living ring is surrounded by a continuous balcony. With its flipped edge it is responsible for the characteristic form of the building.