Kiem West Lot 4

Where the neighbours share more than just an address

The concept alters the existing paradigms of residential areas. Architects, landscape architects and engineers have given serious consideration to the flexibility and multi-functional aspects of the building, enabling future adaptation of spaces according to the requirements of users and residents. The particularly varied types of dwellings makes them attractive to a mixed, intergenerational population; all the more because the great majority is affordable housing offered on th at capped prices. As well as their individual apartment, purchasers will be able to use shared interior and exterior spaces (multi-use rooms, guest rooms, large kitchen with dining room, hobby workshops, common vegetable gardens, play areas …). This sharing means access to equipment which would not normally be found in an apartment, and which an individual household could not afford. Alongside the assets of reducing costs and limiting wastage of resources, appropriate sharing strengthens social ties and is a factor in reducing loneliness.

Despite an identical basic structure for all the buildings, the project provides for two alternating architectural concepts, with the aim of creating an urban environment on a human scale and offering a wide variety of apartment design and size. Movement zones (passageways, corridors, entry halls, stairwells) are so designed as to create extra living space where neighbours can interact on a daily basis.

An intergenerational project 

The project also offers new living formats such as apartment “clusters” intended for newcomers, trainees or anyone else who is prepared to share their apartment: a kind of hybrid between a flatshare and a bedsit, these are large apartments with individual bedrooms, all with ensuite, and common living areas conducive to social contact.

The buildings and their surrounding areas will, at first, be situated at the periphery of Kiem District. Later, they will play a role in linking the existing districts and the two large urbanisation projects under development on the “Laangfur” and “Kuebebierg” sites. The ground floor, modular and flexible, will consist for the one part of affordable apartments and “live and work” areas ( a formula which combines place of work and living area, sold on the open market), and for the other part of commercial outlets, services, restaurants and offices. The aim is to brighten the street frontage and to supply local services for neighbourhood needs.

Modular and flexible 

Within the circular economy philosophy, architects and engineers have paid close attention to the buildings’ being adaptable and dismantlable. The choice of materials lies with their environmental impact throughout their life cycle, with preference given to natural, reusable material in keeping with the “cradle to cradle” (C2C) perspective. In addition, the team examined good resource management (energy, water, biomass) and the means of increasing the site’s biodiversity.

A different way of moving 

Suggesting a multi-modal transport concept, more suitable for urban life, the project falls within the Kirchberg Fund’s aim of constructing a district of short distances with a variety of transport options other than by private car. The garages, grouped at two buildings, are set apart from the jointly-owned properties, managed independently and equally accessible to owners and external users. Numerous comfortable and practical bike stands are situated on the buildings’ ground floors. Departing from the general rule that every household has at least one parking space, principles of sharing (car-sharing, bike-sharing) are promoted.