Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin Architekten
Freihofstrasse Residential Building
best architects 21
multi-family homes
Place
Zurich, Switzerland
Studio
Photos
Roland Bernath
Description
The
residential building on Freihofstrasse continues the quality of urban
development in the neighbourhood with a compact house on the side of the road
with a garden to the rear. The project followed a concept of «simple construction». This
not only guided the building process, but also the development phase. The
result is a brick house with rendered walls that include no building service
installations or insulating boards. The simple, compact layouts are designed to be of
great practical use. The centre of each apartment is the kitchen-cum-dining
room, which can be closed off from the rest of the apartment. Adjacent are
individual rooms that all have a similar surface area and thus provide space
that is neutral in use to suit different tenant profiles. The apartments
nonetheless have their own identity, which changes from old to new build. Their
rooms and elements each have their own character. Some are light, others
shaded, and their windows and doors have an anthropomorphic quality. In line with town planning objectives, the
architecture of the façade is restrained. Areas of coloured render enter into
an intriguing relationship with the plastically formulated covered walkways
made of precast concrete elements. The aim was to give the building its own
distinct character while establishing a connection to the buildings in the
immediate vicinity. The embossed designs by artist Christian Hörler on the
porches furthermore give the building a scenographic touch.