Favourite Cost-Effective Buildings

At the end of the year, we present three cost-effectively buildings that have convinced our editorial team in every aspect.

Social Housing in Mallorca

The cost-effective apartment compley by Alventosa Morell and Joan Fortuny is located on the outskirts of Inca on Mallorca. Two three-storey blocks, positioned at an angle to each other, contain 54 residential units. The apartments´ orientation varies according to the storey, in order to benefit from both the inner courtyard and the panoramic mountain view. The brick partition walls in the apartments were simply painted. Garden fences consisting of simple reinforcing bar mats underscore the need for economy. Continue readling

Arlesheim housing co-operative, © Kambiz Shafei

Residential Complex by Studio Balthasar Wirz

In the south of Basel, the team of Studio Balthasar Wirz renovated and extended a residential complex from the 1950s. In addition to the energy-efficient refurbishment of the existing stock, the focus was on enlarging the existing kitchens. To this end, the architects designed six two-storey extensions with monopitch roofs that dock onto the rear of the rows of houses. A petrol blue colour sets the extensions apart from the existing buildings. Thanks to the prefabricated timber construction method, the extension of the six semi-detached houses with a total of twelve residential units was completed in just six months. Continue reading

TUM-Campus in Munich, © Aldo Amoretti

TUM Campus in Munich by Dietrich Untertrifaller

The TUM Campus in Munich is the most ambitious new building project in the 50-year history of the Olympiapark. As with the Olympic buildings from 1972, it is the roof that characterizes the architecture of the TUM Campus, not as a transparent tent, but rather as a 153-m-long wooden covering that cantilevers 18,3 m over the Tartan track. The architects from Dietrich Untertrifaller, in collaboration with landscape architects Balliana-Schubert, won the architecture competition in 2015 with an astonishingly simple concept. Competitive athletes and over 10 000 students have access to 14 sports halls, 12 lecture theatres, 15 diagnostic rooms, five workshops, a cafeteria and a library. Continue reading

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