Gap in Brno

FA VUT - Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture

Project idea

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My project is about designing an appropriate building into a gap on the street in Brno - Zábrdovice. The gap lies in an area known as a „Bronx in Brno“. House with small flats should take part in the revitalization of the area, it will fit in the gap and behave like a catalyst. The house where you can be alone or together. Firstly it respects the privacy of its residents. Equally, it gives an opportunity to be part of the community of the same-mindset individuals. People who enjoy conversation with each other, they can accept local conditions and want to live with the principles of sustainable development. The house is open also for other people in the city. The keywords are:
GAP BETWEEN BUILDINGS
BRNO - ZÁBRDOVICE
TOWNHOUSE
SUSTAINABILITY
CO-LIVING
COMMUNITY
SMALL SPACE FLAT

Project description

EN
How to appropriately build a gap in Brno - Zábrdovice?
Zábrdovice is an urban area close to the city centre. There is a very visible imprint of political, social and ethnic changes that marked the district during the 20th century.
The main city street heading to the centre is Cejl, where life is reputedly very busy and the public world of street and home intermingle here. Residents here can be very expressive. The Roma minority is in the majority here on Cejl. Zábrdovice with its neighbouring southern districts is nowadays popularly known as the Bronx of Brno. The nickname, inspired by a borough in New York City where crime was high in the 1960s and where changes are currently underway with rich people buying up real estate, is very apt.
Gradually, Zábrdovice is also starting to improve. Houses are being repaired and new ones are being built, with new owners and paying tenants. Mostly students. The overall structure of the population is changing. The complete improvement of the area is probably a matter of decades.
The proposal for an apartment building with flats for students and young people will contribute to the transformation of the neighbourhood. The shared spaces in the building provide an opportunity to establish new interpersonal relationships and form a community. The public spaces in the house, the café and the gym are not only an advantage for the residents of the house. They contribute to the amenities, create an additional source of finance for the apartment building, and integrate the house into the locality.

Concept:
The house with small flats will contribute to the revitalization of the entire district, fill the unused space, is the catalyst of the area. It will create the necessary housing for students, young people, working individuals. It provides a refuge, privacy for its residents, and at the same time gives the opportunity to talk to others. A house where you can be alone and together, with a community of like-minded people who are interested in communication, can accept the conditions of the environment and want to live with the principles of long-term sustainability. City house for city people, which will offer space for activities for people who are not residents.

The building has a total of 7 floors and 1 floor in the basement. The main entrance from the street on the 1st floor leads to the cafe. On the 1st level, there is also a passage to the industrial building behind the gap. The passage also serves as a way to enter the building intended exclusively for residents. Through this entrance, we get to the hall with a staircase and an elevator. There is also a place with mailboxes. Behind the passage is a small courtyard, from where you enter the garage for Vespas and bicycles.

The house is not a classic apartment building. There is a small garage designed for parking two-track vehicles such as bicycles or scooters. The proposal sets a model for the way in which existing apartment buildings work abroad. Their residents do not own a car but use a wide range of other transport options: walking to the nearby centre, bike, scooter or public transport to other neighbourhoods and train to distant places, or carsharing.

On the 1st floor there is a public gym with a yoga room, as well as a laundry room for residents. There is a cafe warehouse and utility room. The space of the café on the 1st floor continues to the 2nd floor with a spiral staircase and a gallery, where other seating options are offered. On the 2nd floor, there is also a shared kitchen for residents, connected to the space for common sitting, which is to serve as a shared dining room and club room. The other four floors are residential. There are 4 apartments on each floor. The staircase leads to the 7th floor, where there is a sitting area and a terrace.

Designing the interior of flat:
The apartment is designed with the idea of space variability. The apartment as a "refuge", but also a representative space for a visit. The bed can be covered with a curtain or a wooden sliding door as in a wardrobe. The kitchen is also designed with built-in, closing wooden boards.

The bed is 1100 mm high, under it there is a storage space with opening and pull-out parts. The steps have a shuffle storage space and are themselves sliding under the bed. Above the bed is the possibility of hanging a projector, which projects on a screen rolled up above the window, which also serves as a blind.

The overhanging window increases the usable space, it is designed with a wide seating sill as a sitting area.

Another element of the room is a variable shelf assembly.


CZ
Jak vhodně zastavět proluku v Brně – Zábrdovicích?
Zábrdovice jsou městská část blízko centra. Je zde velmi viditelný otisk politických, sociálních a etnických proměn, které městskou část poznamenaly během 20.století.
Hlavní městskou třídou směřující do centra je Cejl, kde je pověstně velmi rušný život a veřejný svět ulice a domova se tady prolínají. Zdejší obyvatelé umí být velmi výrazní. Romská menšina obyvatelstva je tady na Cejlu ve většině. Zábrdovice se sousedícími jižními městskými částmi je v dnešní době nazýván lidově jako brněnský Bronx. Přezdívka inspirovaná městskou čtvrtí v New Yorku, kde byla v 60.letech silná kriminalita, a kde v současné době probíhají změny skupováním nemovitostí bohatými lidmi, je velmi trefná.
Postupně se začínají zvelebovat i Zábrdovice. Domy se opravují a staví se nové, mají nové majitele a platící nájemníky. Hlavně z řad studentů. Mění se celková struktura obyvatelstva. Úplné zvelebení oblasti je zřejmě otázkou desítek let.
Návrh bytového domu s byty určenými studentům a mladým lidem, přispěje k přeměně čtvrti. Sdílené prostory v domě dávají příležitost k navazování nových mezilidských vztahů a formují komunitu. Veřejné prostory v domě, kavárna a posilovna jsou výhodou nejen pro obyvatele domu. Přispívají k občanské vybavenosti, vytváří další zdroj financí pro bytový dům, začleňují dům do lokality.

Technical information

---I chose the Velox system as a design solution for its use in passive buildings, production technology and properties. Natural materials - wood and cement - are used in the production of chip cement boards. Furthermore, the percentage of a water glass stabilizes the boards and ensures resistance to mould and rodents. Production is energy-efficient, it does not generate hazardous waste that would burden the environment.

The main material is wood, the boards take over its properties. They are porous, which ensures a good connection with the concrete and also noise absorption. This feature is used in the building mainly in the space of a high gallery, in which an echo could occur when other materials are used. Grooves for wiring are simply milled into the boards. The boards are easy to machine, which allows you to design any shape - such as a round corner on the perimeter wall at the passage. The gallery above the café, the apartments and the staircase area are fire-separated spaces, the balcony doors are designed fire-resistant. Velox walls also have good fire resistance (reaction to fire class - A2-s1, d0).

The building is designed for ventilation and air conditioning with a recuperation exchanger. The wiring is run in two shafts passing through the bathrooms.

These shafts are connected on the 2nd floor, where one leads in the ceiling, which is visible in the cafe. There is also water and sewerage in the shafts.

In addition to the stairs, there is a personal elevator in the building. A rope lift is designed with an engine room located at the top, under the vegetation roof on the 7th floor.

The café has a small hydraulic lift for delivering refreshments from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor.

In the gallery area with a western orientation, hot air can collect in the upper part under the glazing. In order to prevent overheating, in addition to air conditioning, glazing with one opening part is designed here. The glass panel will be opened by the remote control machine.

The large glazing of the walls at the stairs, which are oriented to the east and southeast, are designed from Isotherm insulating glass. These glasses with anti-sun, reflective and safety properties prevent the interior from overheating in summer and significantly reduce heat loss in winter.

The roof is designed as an intensive vegetation roof. It absorbs rainwater at the point of impact, retains carbon dioxide and produces oxygen. Compensates for land use. It is also a form of passive protection of the building from the sun and overheating. Excess rainwater is used for flushing and drained into the sewer.

Behind the passage in the yard is a place for containers for recycled waste - paper, plastics, glass and municipal waste. The place is bordered by a wooden pergola structure, connected to the entrance to the garage. There are stands for two-wheeled vehicles in the garage. For bicycles, there are suspension systems to keep them
Mailboxes are located on the 1st floor of the entrance for residents behind the elevator.

Documentation

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