Courtyard living Mainz-Kastel

Beyond individual living comfort, the owners wanted to live in a sustainable community in which the need for great social integration is satisfied. Social aspects are to be appropriately combined with ecological and economical objectives. The special feature of the residential courtyard comprises a glass-covered hall arranged in the middle and surrounded by eight detached houses. As a linking communication area it offers space for supervised play and joint activities. The upper floors of the residential houses are individually accessible via a gallery. This enables the storey division of each house into two residential units to adapt to the families growing and decreasing. The collective approach enabled a compacted construction with reduced space usage. The compact structural shape contributes towards saving energy. Additional, environmentally sound building techniques can be efficiently used.  

Project leader: Herbert Elfers, Martin Geskes, Jörg Krämer