Ried B «Monarch» Niederwangen, BE
The 217 apartments of the Ried Baufeld B «Monarch» are directly derived from the logic of the masterplan: Everyone lives by the green. The incorporation of the buildings into the context emerges from the close interweavement of landscape and built environment. In this the landscape takes on the primary role. The hamlet, the hillside and the forest-fringed plateau of Taubentränki are of predominant public interest and integral to the quality of the neighbourhood. The settlement with its multiply articulated courtyard, is a true neighbourhood machine. All architectural elements, located outside the building structures are made of prefabricated brick elements. This creates a strong identity and signals a high appreciation of the collective living space. In these elongated, plaza-like courtyards, a neighbourly social life can unfold. The protruding courtyard structures contain laundry rooms, stroller rooms, and roof terraces for the respective residencies. The brick volumes successfully structure the housing estate and create clear addresses. The east-west orientation allows floor plans to have continuous living areas and therefore benefit from both the wide landscape and the qualities of the neighbourhood courtyard. With this, the prerequisites to allow the development of a new, lively neighbourhood–the primary goal in the implementation of the project–are given.