Imprint
Editor Dr. Sandra Hofmeister
Authors
Project management (publisher) Katja Pfeiffer
Cover Design & Layout
Nada Kodela
Copy editors (English)
Translation
Drawings
Nada Kodela & OFIS, Barbara Kissinger (publisher)
Production and DTP
Simone Soesters
Reproduction
ludwig:media, AT-Zell am See
Printing and binding
DE-Langenhagen
Paper
Chromosulfatkarton 350 g (cover)
Magno Volume 135 g (content)
detail.de
ISBN 978-3-95553-640-4 (Print) ISBN 978-3-95553-641-1 (E-Book)
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#RESIDENTIAL
Criss-Cross Villa ... 054
Portico House ... 106
Catwalk House ... 172
Split Level House... 234
Step Level House ... 116 Frame
Alpine Barn ... 034
Shoebox House ... 082
Lom Estate ... 182
... 222
Ring
... 192
under the
... 244
House
House
House
Poplars
#PUBLIC
Skuta Alpine Shelter ... 042 Kanin Winter Cabin ... 064
Bohinj ... 140
Unit ... 074 AS Boutique Hotel ... 202
#HOUSING
Basket Apartments ... 006 Center of Space Technologies ... 016
Arena ... 026
and Ballet Conservatory ... 128 Maribor Football Stadium ... 162
#OFFICE
Printing House ... 214
#PREFABRICATION
#BUILDING ENVELOPES
#STEELCONSTRUCTION
#MODULARCONSTRUCTION
#CONCRETECONSTRUCTION
Basket Apartments / Paris, FR
The competition brief for the Basket Apartments project was based on a preliminary urban plan that foresaw the volumetric footprint of the new building. The site was located on a very narrow site (11 meters wide and approximately 200 meters long) in an infrastructurally dense area of Paris on the edge of Parc La Villette in the nineteenth arrondisement. In the near vicinity of the site, municipal authorities were developing the last section of the Paris tram line, a new tram station, a tram garage with a football field on top of it, and cyclist and pedestrian pathways.
The competition brief demanded a complex timetable for the project, which needed to be completed in time for the inauguration of the new tram line and station. The architects responded to the competition brief in a pragmatic way, while still finding space within the rational structure for an original architectural expression that co-creates the identity of the newly developed urban area.
The projected timeframe of one year for the construction of 192 student apartments, together with a support program, meant that the architectural solutions had to be well-considered, robust, and simple in order to be implemented in time.
The long volume of the building is divided into two parts connected with a narrow bridge and a garden. The building has eleven floors: a technical space in the basement, communal areas on the ground floor, and student apartments on the upper nine floors. The narrow length of the plot gives a significant presence to the building. Each face has a different appearance depending on its function and program.
The elevation toward Rue des Petits Ponts contains balcony-baskets of different sizes, randomly oriented to diversify the views and rhythm of the façade. The shifting baskets create a dynamic surface while also breaking down the scale and proportion of the building. The elevation toward the football field features an open passage walkway with studio entrances enclosed within a 3D metal mesh. The two volumes are conected by a narrow bridge on the first floor that also functions as an open communal space or gallery overlooking the football field and offering a view to the city and the Eiffel Tower. In order to optimize design and construction, all the student studios are the same size and contain the same elements: entrance, bathroom, wardrobe, kitchenette, working space, and bed. Each apartment has a balcony overlooking the street. The major objective of the project was to provide students with a healthy environment for studying, living, and meeting.
Rue des Petits Ponts view
192 studios / The major objective of the project was to provide students with a healthy environment for studying, learning, and meeting.
An open corridor or gallery runs along the length of the football field overlooking the field and creating a view onto the city and the Eiffel Tower. This gallery also provides access to the apartments and a community space for students. All the studios are the same size and contain the same elements to optimize design and construction: an entrance, bathroom, wardrobe, kitchenette, working space and a bed. Each apartment has a balcony overlooking the street.
The building is energy efficient in accordance with the city’s sustainable development efforts. The plan’s climate goal is that future housing will consume 50KWh/m² or less. The objectives of energy performance and the construction timetable were met by focusing on a simple, well-insulated, and ventilated structure that functions optimally all year round. Accommodations are cross-ventilated and have abundant day-time lighting throughout the apartments. External corridors and glass staircases also promote natural lighting in the communal areas, adding to energy efficiency while also creating comfortable and well-lit social spaces. The building is insulated from the outside with a wall thickness of twenty centimeters. Thermal bridge breakers are used on corridor floors and balconies to avoid thermal bridges. Ventilation is controlled by double-flow mechanical ventilation, providing clean air at an optimum temperature in all apartments throughout the year. The incoming air reuses heat from the exhaust air. The roof is covered with photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Rainwater is harvested onsite in a reservoir used for watering outdoor green spaces.
Maribor Football Stadium / West Tribune / Maribor, SI
The Ljudski vrt football stadium in Maribor (the name means the people’s garden) was OFIS’s longest-running project. The initial competition took place in 1998 and involved the expansion and refurbishment of the stadium in the center of the Slovenia’s second city of Maribor. The site has been used as a multi-functional sport field for the last hundred years. The last phase of the project was completed in 2022.
The original stadium, with its huge concrete arched roof sweeping over the tribunes, was built by the building engineer Boris Pipan in 1961. Because of its extraordinary dimensions (length of 138 meters and height of 18.4 meters), it represents one of the most important architectural legacies of Maribor.
The competition brief called for an addition to the existing concrete shell that would add twelve thousand seats and an additional public program: four gymnasiums, fitness club, swimming pools, shops, and restaurants. The stadium had to be built in accordance with UEFA and FIFA standards.
The concept is divided into two functional entities: a public program volume and spectator tribunes in two distinct forms. The public sports facilities are located on three floors below ground, the rectangular “roof” of which serves as the entry platform for the tribunes. In contrast to this rectangular base, the main architectural feature of the stadium is the undulating ring that surrounds the perimeter of the tribunes. The tribunes are designed to provide optimum sightlines onto the field from all seats. The ring serves as a hall with space for the additional public program, a walkway around the tribunes with rooms for VIP, press, security, delegates, and concession stands. It also functions as the structural carrier for the translucent roof that hovers over the seating area within the stadium.
The lowest and highest points of the tribunes were determined by the quality of the spectator sightline. The logic behind the setting of the undulation of the ring follows the idea of offering the best viewing positions to all visitors. The corner ’blank’ spots become entry points to the tribunes.
Catwalk House / Ljubljana, SI
Although as much as eighty percent of Slovenia is covered by forest, most family houses were made of a combination of concrete and brick during the last century. These materials were considered to be durable, earthquake-proof, and economical.
The idea of houses made from timber has only been revived in the last two decades, mainly due to an increasing awareness of sustainable construction and the well-being derived from living in wooden houses.
The client was a family that needed an all-natural wooden house with no artificial or chemical treatments of any kind because of their children’s severe allergies. They also had a cat that never leaves the house, a dog that needs to go outside, and a parrot that likes a view of greenery. And, last but not least, there was an existing fifty-year old magnolia on the site that the owners wanted to preserve. So that was the brief: a walking balcony for the cat, a large window facing the tree for the parrot, a fenced garden for the dog, along with a service section for parking and garden storage.
The house was to be made entirely of wood, completely natural, with no glues or protective coatings, the insulation made of hemp, the plasters of clay, and the structure with no metal supports. The main access to the building is via the existing connection to the local road on the western side of the plot.
The building is structurally separated into two sections, residential and service. The ground floor of the residential part includes a living area, a kitchen with a dining room, WC, and storage room. Bedrooms are located on the upper floors. The service section includes a carport for parking, a bicycle shed with storage, a service space on the ground floor, and a terrace on the upper floor. The concept includes a large garden area in the front and leans the building on the edge of the longitudinal part of the plot.
The volume length of the garden is thirty meters. It includes the magnolia tree and provides for an additional private patio in front of the dining area. The patio divides the entrance from the residential part of the house, which is connected to the terrace above the carport with a bridge: the special request of the client to provide a private walking garden for the cat. And so we have the Catwalk...
