Apartment Building along a Party Wall
Basel, Switzerland · 1988
Photo · Photo © Margherita Spiluttini
A precedent for narrow-lot urban infill housing, demonstrating how a timber post-and-beam structure can create a layered, porous facade with integrated balconies along a tight property line.
- What we like about this project
- The top-floor balcony transitions into an open roof terrace sheltered by a dramatically thin, sloping canopy.
Materials
- timber-cladding
- wood-posts
- steel-railings
- concrete-foundation
Visual identifiers
- timber-post-and-beam
- continuous-balconies
- wood-cladding
- narrow-alley-infill
Style tags
- swiss-minimalism
- rationalist
- tectonic
Visual tags
- multi-family-housing
- timber-structure
- urban-infill
- layered-facade
- swiss-architecture
- Geometry
- A long, linear multi-story volume defined by a repeating structural grid of timber columns. The building features deep horizontal floor plates that project outward to form continuous balconies, capped by a thin, angled roof plane.
- Facade system
- Timber rainscreen cladding with integrated full-height glazing and operable wooden shutters.
- Structural guess
- Timber post-and-beam frame supported on a concrete base.
- Spatial scale
- Three-story residential scale, responding to the narrow pedestrian path with a highly articulated, human-scaled structural bay.
- Lighting
- Soft, diffused daylight casting gentle shadows beneath the deep overhangs and balconies.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet, structured, and warm, with the natural timber tones contrasting against the historic stone surroundings.
- Environmental context
- Sited in a tight historic urban context, running parallel to a narrow alleyway opposite an old stone masonry wall.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly layered, porous edge to the narrow alleyway. Deep balconies and structural timber posts create a transitional zone between the private interior spaces and the public path.
- Composition rhythm
- A highly regular, repeating vertical rhythm of timber columns is balanced by the strong horizontal lines of the balcony slabs and roof overhang.
- Style reading
- Early Swiss timber minimalism
- Program
- Multi-family residential apartments
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- timber-cladding, wood-posts, steel-railings, concrete-foundation
- Visual identifiers
- timber-post-and-beam, continuous-balconies, wood-cladding, narrow-alley-infill
- Style tags
- swiss-minimalism, rationalist, tectonic
- Visual tags
- multi-family-housing, timber-structure, urban-infill, layered-facade, swiss-architecture
- Geometry
- A long, linear multi-story volume defined by a repeating structural grid of timber columns. The building features deep horizontal floor plates that project outward to form continuous balconies, capped by a thin, angled roof plane.
- Facade system
- Timber rainscreen cladding with integrated full-height glazing and operable wooden shutters.
- Structural guess
- Timber post-and-beam frame supported on a concrete base.
- Spatial scale
- Three-story residential scale, responding to the narrow pedestrian path with a highly articulated, human-scaled structural bay.
- Lighting
- Soft, diffused daylight casting gentle shadows beneath the deep overhangs and balconies.
- Atmosphere
- Quiet, structured, and warm, with the natural timber tones contrasting against the historic stone surroundings.
- Environmental context
- Sited in a tight historic urban context, running parallel to a narrow alleyway opposite an old stone masonry wall.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly layered, porous edge to the narrow alleyway. Deep balconies and structural timber posts create a transitional zone between the private interior spaces and the public path.
- Composition rhythm
- A highly regular, repeating vertical rhythm of timber columns is balanced by the strong horizontal lines of the balcony slabs and roof overhang.
- Style reading
- Early Swiss timber minimalism
- Program
- Multi-family residential apartments
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture