Austria | Vienna | VilleVerdi Housing Estate | Albert Wimmer Architects / Albert Wimmer ZT-GmbH

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Albert Wimmer Architects' new eco-estate regenerates former industrial zone in Vienna

The 'Ville Verdi' project is based on the idea of a stepped house as well as that of town villas and the possibility of orienting a housing estate to the south. The ecological housing estate in low-energy construction is located in Vienna’s 11th district in a former industrial zone in close proximity to the revitalised, distinctive Gasometers – the industrial monuments of historicism.
The development concept attempts both to create a strong identity in heterogeneous surroundings and to make a harmonious contribution to an environment still in the process of change. The town villas are positioned in a staggered layout in a newly designed, park-like area, and the striking colour of the façade was developed with greenery and nature in mind. The town villas seek optimal positions in a dancing manner – with regard to exposure to sunlight and quality of view as well as the creation of tension, appeal and attractive force. The slightly 'sloping' position, in which the villas ambivalently float between 'seeing and being seen', corresponds to the stepped house type, enhances the villas’ presence and facilitates the occupants’ identification process.
The 'Ville Verdi' housing estate consists of five individual structures with 34 residential units each. The floor plan is an optimal answer to the demands of modern housing and offers an attractive range of common facilities on the access paths. The flats have been developed in a compact way with clearly zoned functional areas and possess ample open space like projecting balconies, loggias and terraces, which – as a result of the positioning of the structures – provide an unobstructed view outside.
Each villa has an entrance area flooded with light, a launderette, and a pram and bicycle storage room. All five villas share three children’s play rooms, one spacious sauna and one common room. The ground floor and first floor of Villa 1 are home to assisted communal living for people in need of extensive nursing care. The ecological housing estate has been planned barrier-free, with the way both from the underground station and from the car park to the residential unit being uncomplicated and direct.
The natural green façade skin made of high-quality corrugated iron cladding bestows the five independent, monolithic structures with a three-dimensional shape and zoning. The rear-ventilated façade prevents construction damages through vapour condensation. The colour-stable, long-lasting coating makes for a recyclable and virtually maintenance-free façade: the system can be extended through to passive house standard. A common language of form and material creates an identity with the quarters that serves to generate familiarity among the occupants and enables contentedness in dealing with the housing and living environment.

Fonte: World Architecture News