Ulmer Areal, Dornbirn (AT)
New building, Subsidised housing , Building in existing structures

On the approximately 12,000 m² site of the former tool wholesaler Ulmer, a dense residential complex was created that can be walked through as a matter of course and forms a new, human piece of the city. A two-storey underground storage area was reused as an underground car park. Seven newly constructed residential buildings with four to six storeys now rise above it.

Social and privately financed housing come together here in a valuable central location and form a coherent whole, which is not least thanks to the very deliberate and high-quality design of the outdoor space. Shops on the ground floor zones enliven the street space, while the upper floors house rental flats from the Vorarlberg housing association.

The three new buildings of our office offer passive house standard with controlled ventilation. The height of the buildings decreases by one storey from house to house along the ascending street. As a result, the new residential buildings mediate between the high-rise and the historically grown villa structure.

Landscape planning, uniformly light-coloured rendered façades on all the buildings and similarly proportioned structures tie the residential complex together. Façade variations between striking loggias on the owner-occupied houses and the interplay of sliding shutters on the apartment blocks lend the houses an individual identity.