Competition Theresienstraße

1st prize

Maxvorstadt is characterised by a strong polarity of busy street spaces and private courtyard situations. The different locations "on the street" and "in the courtyard" are further developed as a characteristic of urban living in the form of "interlocking courtyards" as continuous, communal urban spaces.

Five-storey buildings, which are stepped down to four storeys towards the courtyards depending on the location, form the basic building blocks of the structure. Views are framed, passages are created and form clear addresses on Theresienstrasse.

The need for quiet and undisturbed privacy contrasts with communal living in an urban environment; the task of the project is to create this ambiguous balance. In the very dense spaces, a sensible distribution of privacy and publicity is created. Differently designed open spaces offer different qualities of stay, the location of the entrances as well as changing orientations of the flats ensure privacy.

The continuous balconies running just in front of the buildings give the flats an individual free space; at the loggias, these - otherwise narrow - bands widen into generous green rooms.

The buildings are constructed as solid structures in reinforced concrete with a plastered, smooth-felted thermal insulation composite system. The design of the façades references the light-footed elegance of the characteristic houses of the 1950s in Maxvorstadt. The new buildings have a high degree of individuality and are recognisable as individual building blocks. The flats are variable in size and floor plan and offer a flexible and lively mix in the structure by creating different typologies.