Bläsiring House Basel

The property is a middle lot of three containing town­houses from the 1870s. The three buildings form the 
lower conclusion to an open block row. The adjacent
buildings are furnished with five full floors and an attic level, exhausting the maximum number of stories 
allowed by the zoning regulations. The residential block borders public grounds with a school and a church, 
Matthäuskirche, which lends the quarter its name. The property owner grew up in the house, and would like to realize a new building together with her family.

Due to the minimal width of the lot, and the limited building depth, vertical development is necessary. This leads to the stacking of two triplex buildings. Between the two adjacent structures, the house, in its proportions, looks like a residential tower. One house is assigned the garden, the other a rooftop terrace. The lower apartment comprises the ground level, which connects with the enclosed back courtyard, and the first and second
floor. The top apartment comprises the third floor through
to loft level, and thus has outside areas available at loft level and on the accessible rooftop. Every floor is organized into three areas; open living space, functional level, and development zone. Through the interlocking development, each living unit has its own street-facing entry.

The sculptural design of the spaces characterizes the various levels in an individual way. Concrete is the main, room-defining material. The spatial density and the use of concrete for furniture appear archaic. The formulation of the openings creates a central motif and gives different appearances to the windows, which take on a new function on every story. Materialized in oak, they appear as fine intarsia in the homogeneous concrete structure. The individual formulation of the stories defines the architectural expression of the facade. Interlocking spaces emerge horizontally and vertically. In this, the development spaces form the closed part of the facade, while living spaces are legible as facade openings. The street- and courtyard-facing floor-to-ceiling glazing enables day-light-flooded spaces, with twelve-meter deep floor plans.