Luca Selva Architekten

Description

This monolithic new building is situated at an important location from an urban planning point of view that not only encompasses the head of the Margarethenbrücke, but also the corner of a recently renovated block of buildings on Güterstrasse in Basel, historically an area for transshipment with goods sheds and rail freight services. This important inner-city location with extremely different characteristics on either side of the building is reflected in an unusual sectional view of the building, which offers a precise and spatially substantial response to the nature of the location with overhigh rooms that face onto the railway tracks. The spatial programme comprises various commercial premises on the ground-floor, while the four standard upper floors and the attic house a total of seventeen varied apartments, which are accessible via two stairwells. The sculpturally impressive urban façade and its typically articulated relief on the corner of the building adds to the spatial diversity of the inner-city surroundings. The building follows the logical principle of a hard shell facing the city and a soft core inside. The project eloquently shows how the vibrant interplay of typology, material and construction can be used to develop a valid architecture that is independent of the zeitgeist and enriches the location with its strong and distinctive identity.