Mühlweg Residential Complex by Hermann Kaufmann Architects

click image to enlarge - Photo by Bruno Klomfar

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“The residential complex Mühlweg is the result of a property developer competition tendered within the “Climate Protection Program of the City of Vienna” to point out the feasibility of the realization of multi-storey timber constructions or constructions mixed with timber through low energy architecture under the conditions of social residential building in an urban locality.
The project, which was developed by Johannes Kaufmann and Hermann Kaufmann, was created not so much due to the conditions of timber construction per se, but rather was specified concerning considerations for urban development and demonstrates the various possibilities of timber as a building material in order to create high-grade living space. Based on a concept which does not try to confine it from the environment, but instead lets the ‘Marchfeld’ (proper name of the surrounding area) flow through the residences, three structures are placed close to the building boundary. Between the devices in the basement which are carried out in massive design and the upper floors which are carried out in supporting construction of shelves and plywood, an open courtyard area is created with differentiated ambient rooms. The structures are enclosed by highly insulated salient cladding elements made of untreated larch wood which, combined with coloured sliding shutters, create a homelike ambiance. Most of the apartments face southwards or westwards and offer various living situations with a mixture of different types and sizes. (Claudia Wedekind)”
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