742.UWF – Urban Living at the Former Cargo Station, Freiburg (DE)

Five Friends for Freiburg

Consistently aligned with the given perimeter block, the built ensemble on the former cargo station premises shows a clearcut boundary line on the outside, while unfolding more differentiated qualities in the soft transitions of the interior open spaces. A head-end building is positioned at the intersection with Freiladestraße. Together with the point-block building in the north-east, it defines a small square, which also provides access to the inner courtyard, which becomes increasingly more private and greener.

The entire quarter is made up of four houses of the same typology, staggered in height (with the slightly varied head-end building responding to the special situation at both the intersection and the entrance to the inner courtyard) and a typologically closely related point-block building. The front-to-back residential entrance zones create a pleasant anterior area for meeting and lingering, which also extends vertically into the well-lit safety staircase with an adjoining loggia.

Most of the apartments, which are either through-plan or double-aspect, face south-west, those on the courtyard side face east, which ensures good natural lighting for all apartments. The barrier-free units on the ground floor are conceived as connectable studio apartments, flexible commercial spaces or, as in the point-block house, as community areas.

The robust townhouses are evocative of the look of the regional sandstone and the brickwork of the former cargo station. The plinth is clad in reclaimed old facing bricks; the red tones also continue on the upper floors as colored plaster on durable insulating brickwork. The ceilings are planned in an innovative hybrid construction, and the interior walls non-fired and clay brickwork with high storage capacity.

Three special green spaces — square, meadow, and grove-like courtyard — make for a wholesome microclimate, while biodiversity green roofs planted with herbs and grasses not only provide room for photovoltaic systems but also habitats for insects. By retaining precipitation, they create a buffer for heavy rainfall and (in combination with a cistern) a reservoir for prolonged periods of heat.

So, everything is on track for climate-resilient, urban living at the former cargo station in Freiburg-Brühl!

In the Brühl district of Freiburg, the course is set for a new residential quarter, which combines climate resilience and ecological construction with special urban amenity qualities in both the interior and the outdoor spaces.

Visualization: Stanislav Simonicek
Illustrations: AllesWirdGut