Burkhard Meyer - Switzerland
Apartment Buildings Belétage
Wiesenstrasse, Baden
2010 - 2015

Designed by Burkhard Meyer architects, the two residential towers with panoramic view to the Limmat valley are located at the foot of the Martinsberg,
where the surrounding green spaces merges into the urban structure. The two high-rise buildings are slightly offset in plan, and show a minimized footprint.
This allows to have as much free exterior space as possible and that the landscape is percepted as freely flowing around the buildings. At the same
time, this design strategy allows the new surrounding to merge with the
historically valuable park in the southern part of the property. A square, covered
with red flooring material, is spanned between the towers and gives access to the two residential buildings. The floor plan of the buildings is mirrored
and rotated, so thet the buildings are are arranged to each other, so that "one looks at the other". The top of the buildings features a two storey incision,
with its
its sculptural effect this building termination refers to the retracted entrance zone. The dark color of the facade makes the building appear noble and restrained.
However, depending on lighting and viewing angles, the appearance oscillates from dar to bright shining tones. This effect ist the result of the façade construction.
The glass panes are placed in front of
coloured trapezoidal sheets - the color of the later shines through the glass and results in the changing appearance.
The stepped horizontal lines of the paraptet and windwos is related to the degree of privacy of the usage behind the façade. The narrowest windows belong to
the bedrooms, while the largest windows are located at the corners, referring to the four-seasons rooms. This four-seasons room is a central element of each apartment,
defining its orientation and opening diagonal views, whether to the natural or the urban-industrial environment.