Architecture firm GROUPWORK designed a small apartment building in London, England. The cool thing about this building is it has a balconies made from woven wicker that wrap around a steel and wood frame to soften the overall material palette of brick and steel.
Those protruding balconies are large enough for dining. And plus, it’s a great alternative that allow the neighbors to interact with each other.
This project requires a comprehensive understanding of the various materials involved and their structural properties as well as careful detailing as many load-bearing elements are exposed. Concrete basements provide a solid foundation for the building and support height changes throughout the site. The thickness of the ground floor was kept to a minimum by using internal masonry walls as a load-bearing structure and leaving the soffits exposed.
The superstructure consists of six floors of load-bearing CLT panels, stretching up to 6.0m with various openings for stairs and services. The roof is also solid CLT panels, carefully balanced against each other to form an open loft space. Lining all of this is a staggered masonry façade that is separated from the rest of the building to allow it to expand and contract separately. Each of these materials serves a different purpose; acting and moving in their own way but with meticulous detail, together they form a seamless combination of structural form and architectural vision.
