Affordable housing near The Old Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bubenč, Prague

Idea projektu

The affordable housing project across the street from the historically significant old wastewater treatment plant building in Bubenč-Prague deals primarily with design issues in the flood zone. For this reason, the northern houses standing in the active flood zone are elevated above the flood plain so that in the event of a flood, the water can flow freely along with the items it carries. The houses in the southern part of the site are built on a heavy concrete plinth that opens out into the courtyard with non-residential workshop spaces, a residential care centre and community centre spaces.

Popis projektu

The individual dwellings are set into the sloping ground around the perimeter of the plot so that together they enclose a publicly accessible courtyard. The smaller houses entering the park divide the space imaginatively into two smaller-more intimate courtyards, which are interconnected by an overhanging ground floor space. The spaces under the feet of the houses create a covered outdoor playground, a workout area, a relax zone or a public seating area located under the northeast house, which is an extension of the bike path running along the Vltava River arm. The urbanism and the expression of the houses try to be based on the site, a location on the border between the city and the periphery. Together the houses form a block, but with gaps that open out into the surrounding landscape, providing views across the whole site. The greenish shade of the façades of the houses responds colourfully to the objects of the new sewage treatment plant, situated on the opposite bank of the Vltava. The green shade is also a light contrast to the brick material of the old wastewater treatment plant. The central motif of the design is a continuous pavilion encircling the inner courtyard. All residential units of the complex are accessible from it. However, the pavilion does not only serve as an access corridor to the residential units, but the extended bays on the pavilion also serve as another semi-private exterior space to the apartments as a counterpoint to the private more intimate loggias situated on the exterior façade of the complex. The complex features standardized units of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments. The largest apartments are always oriented at the ends of the buildings to provide the greatest comfort. All apartments are oriented on both sides, allowing cross ventilation.

Technické informácie

Residential houses are designed from prefabricated CLT panels-elements, which are assembled after transport to the construction site and placed side by side as individual modules. The houses have green roofs with extensive greenery. Rainwater is collected in storage tanks from where the water is distributed to irrigate plants in the yard when needed. The windows are equipped with external shading - textile roller blinds while the loggias have the possibility of shading with integrated textile exterior curtains.