In the initial masterplan, great importance was placed on the site’s morphology, while at the same time a number of clearly divergent interventions were proposed to transform the industrial site into a new residential district.
The new relationship between built form and open space, as well as the strong articulation of the site’s edge in relation to its surroundings, directly result from an analysis of the original condition.
By interpreting the industrial halls as closed building blocks, an outdoor space is created with qualities analogous to those of the former situation.
A further thoughtful transformation of these residential blocks allows for an elegant infill and generates layered spatial relationships between building volumes, as well as a necessary gradient in the public character of the outdoor spaces.
The inversion of public and private — by placing the gardens, which are typically enclosed within the blocks (and often suffer from lack of sunlight), outside the block, and making the interior area publicly accessible — visually extends the greenery of the public park space into the private gardens of the ground-level dwellings.
To ensure flexibility in responding to future market shifts without the need to revise the urban development concept, a set of interchangeable and small-scale typological variants was chosen, all fitting within a coherent formal framework.
In relation to the scale of the outdoor spaces they serve, the façade envelope of the blocks is fragmented at the level of multiple units or individual homes, enhancing variation and human scale.
