Park Residences

The site is on the edge of a moderately dense development in a small town to the south of Vienna. The house typologies in this development still show traces of their Baroque roots, they are relatively closed towards the street and extend in narrow courtyard wings along a former Baroque garden to the landscape zone in the south.
This zone has a moderate slope, in places the changes in level are stepped and defined by long retaining walls. The view across the plain in front is significant. In this way the building discovers its references in the one hand in the tradition of functional buildings such as the gardener’s house and similar structures and how they relate to the adjoining outdoor space, while on the other hand the main direction is clearly determined by the view of the landscape lying further below.

The architecture of this building should be seen as a development in the formulation of PICHLER & TRAUPMANN’s individual repertoire. The continuity of the space-generating elements in the form of folded surfaces can be allotted to the flowing system of spaces with continuous transitions. Both spatial differentiation and the openings are generated in what is called “IN-BETWEEN”. Venturing beyond the question of window and door a design strategy is pursued in which just the positioning of the elements in relation to each other determines the openings. Often, as in this project, this happens through the formulation of two parts that relate to each other in a kind of duality. A concrete structure that is developed out of the ground has a counterpart in the floating, folded white surface whose topological character is worked out with utter consistency. The free-standing steel columns, some of them two-storey, underscore the character of these white surfaces as an enveloping structure contrasted with a load-bearing structure. They are like distance pieces fixed between the element structures already referred to whose geometry and positioning determines the spatial continuum.

Both structures are shaped by the existing characteristics of the place. Retaining walls of stone that determine the character of the garden landscape are continued in the form of exposed reinforced concrete walls. These generate a plinth that is peeled out of the ground and contains both living and leisure areas. In addition it helps articulate the approach for vehicles and pedestrians.

As already mentioned the entire complex is very strongly defined by its relationship to outdoor space. Certain elements of the generously laid-out garden such as the walls and levels move into the interior, so to speak, eliminating the spatial difference between outside and inside. A projecting terrace is continued in the wooden floor of the living/dining area which in turn folds upwards to create a wood-clad parapet and then finally generates a kind of seat from which you can enjoy a wide view across the plain. All other levels in the interior also have front balconies and terraces at certain points.