Luca Selva Architekten
Apartment building on Bruderholzallee, Basel
best architects 24
multi-family homes
Place
Basel, Switzerland
Studio
Photos
Yohan Zerdoun
Description
The topography of the Bruderholz district of Basel is
characterised by a slope upwards to the south, while the overall morphology of
the built environment of this quarter of the city is open. The building plot is
an area formerly used for road maintenance loading and unloading and is
situated at the rear of an important access road with a beautiful avenue of
trees. With a steeply rising incline, northern orientation, many existing
trees, and difficult access at the rear, the site, in short, posed every
conceivable challenge. For the competition entry we focused on issues
concerning unbuilt or open spaces and exposure to light, developing three
geometrically different floors that are concave-shaped towards the outside.
Diminishing towards the top, the open spaces of this footprint become the
balconies. The topography is mirrored in a subtle way, with each of the six
apartments corresponding to the surroundings in a specific manner. The convex
forms in the interior likewise refer to the exterior environment and create
very striking living spaces that agreeably capture light and sun. Executed in
wood, the façade features ivory-white vertical cladding, with horizontal bands in
copper. The project impressively demonstrates how a clever concept can be used
to enliven a site that is basically unsuitable for building – without
destroying resources through demolition – and thereby create urgently needed
housing in a sought-after urban quarter in Basel.