Concrete and glass form a striking street front on which precast concrete elements with a geometric structure filter daylight and establish privacy. On the other side of the building full-height glazing ensures maximum transparency. In the interior the character of the spaces, which flow one into each other, is shaped by exposed concrete walls. In this building concrete’s entire range of sensual expression is presented.

A vacant lot in the Seefeld district in a privileged position: central, but yet quiet, bordered to the south by a large grassy area with fine mature trees. The street front is an abstract facade of precast concrete elements that mediates between two very different neighbouring buildings: an apartment block and an office building, both dating from the early 1960s. The concrete facade elements allow filtered light to enter, while ensuring the privacy of the residents. The south facade is very different. Here maximum transparency establishes an immediate relationship to outdoor space. Long walls of exposed concrete – some free-standing – and diagonal views determine the minimalist aesthetic character of the interior. There are no corridors, you move from space to space.
The fact that the new building has no immediate neighbour opposite to the south offered an opportunity rarely encountered in an urban context: to exploit passive solar energy. Special glazing allows high heat gains to be made in winter. The walls and floor slabs store the warmth and release it later. This reduces the amount of heating energy needed. Wall slabs that are either end-fixed and project beyond or rest eccentrically on a support form a structural system that makes the covered parking area at ground level very easy to use. The loads are transferred by just a central wall and two columns. Concrete – either cast in place or used as a precast element – is the dominant construction material. The different ways in which the concrete is finished reveals the material’s wide range of sensual expression: the surfaces have different degrees of smoothness, are slightly grinded, intensively polished or sand blasted; left untreated or given a protective coat of grey paint.