Weissensee Quarter, Berlin , 2016, 2nd prize

The new Weissensee Quarter is a very special, small and urban world. The location between two cemeteries and the loose housing development as well as the school calls for an urban design with strong internal relations. The precise positioning of eight residential buildings of very different sizes allows both the formation of an identity-forming community centre and a differentiated reference to existing urban structures. Interspersed smaller structures and pavilions complement the urban figure, which is new in its context, and break up its scale. A public road connection runs through the site. The common space is structured by means of a sequence of square-like situations. The newly created outdoor areas connect with the existing green space and thus strengthen the overall context, which is strongly shaped by nature. On the property, the public thoroughfare interlocks with public and private green spaces. The ground floor is designed as a primary community-building zone. The exterior space not only connects with the network of public paths—the houses themselves also interact with the sequence of outdoor spaces.