EMI Architekt*innen Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin

Description

The six-storey residential and commercial building MIN MAX in Opfikon is conceived as an urban building block that attains the maximum permissible height so as to continue the cornice line along Boulevard Lilienthal. With its floor plan, the volume occupies nearly the entire developable area, making it key to defining the space of the surrounding streetscape and green spaces. The building houses small apartments for a heterogeneous group of residents as well as commercial premises on the ground floor and thus offers an alternative to the housing previously available in the new city district of Glattpark. In addition to cluster apartments, which enable community living including private rooms for each resident, the project offers four types of small apartments, all with about 40 square meters of living space. Along with the important aspect of negotiating between community and anonymity, of particular interest here was the question of how compact flats could be invested with new qualities going beyond merely reducing the size of a conventional apartment. The building surrounds a courtyard that forms the focal point for the resident community while also offering access via covered walkways. A tower-like glazed element supplies added space for communal use on each floor.