APARTMENT LIVING HAD not been a very Irish tradition – but property prices are they were and are, commuting times and other life-balance factors have had many of us reconsider them as a permanent home.
Would these projects – chosen by the World Architecture Festival in the residential shortlist – make the grade for you?
There is a larger list here, with further pictures and info on each project.
The Carve (A-lab), Oslo, Norway
This was the winning design in the category, slotted into a narrow strip of 21 metres by 105 metres, a white marble and wood panel-clad building of mixed-use over 15 storeys.
That amazing looking recess in the building? It’s a garden terrace, with open-air bridges and panoramic elevators, which acts as a green buffer zone for residents on their way home.
Goodwood Residence (WOHA), Singapore
Two 12-storey L-shaped blocks of apartments act as ‘garden walls’ around a series of courtyards and a tropical facade that frames views to the Goodwood Hill conservation area.
Living units are varied in design from ‘treehouse cabanas’ perched amidst the treetop canopies of the development and accessed by bridges, to ground floor apartments with lofty ceilings and auto-sliding garden windows.
Magma Towers (GLR arquitectos), Monterrey, Mexico
Two monolithic aparment buildings interact with each other in a roof garden that separates the residential and commercial areas beneath. The dynamic geometry of the buildings’ facades impressed judges.
Constance Street Public Housing (Cox Rayner Architects), Queensland, Australia
This block is surrounded by dense traffic streets and a rail line, with an office building on another side. As such, the architects focused on putting the living units around a quiet central atrium. It gives the effect of an internal ‘street’ where residents socialise and share amenities including communal kitchens and laundries.
Oxley (LAUD Architects Pte Ltd), Singapore
This design was built to put together a set of four houses – one for each of four brothers. Not an apartment building exactly, but aiming to allow a flow between households, while still providing privacy.
The architects made it an interlocking design so that on the north and south sides, only two – not four – houses can be observed. It’s a world away from a typical terrace.
SCADpad (Savannah College of Art and Design), United States
This is an interesting project of three 135sq ft micro-residence prototypes (currently installed on the fourth floor of an Atlanta, Georgia car park!) The idea is to create a template for parking spots to be adapted into little residential or relaxation spaces for the urban generation who might begin to feel that having a car is less valuable than a little extra living or working space.
Striped Living (Group8asia Singapore Pte Ltd), Switzerland
The travertine stone and vertical ‘fence’ facade was designed to minimise the impact of these high-density blocks in an area where residential building consisted mainly of villas with sloped roofs and old farm buildings.
They have sustainable energy features too, like solar panels for heating and water systems, and photovoltaic panels generating electricity.
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