The entrance to this apartment building is located in the residential zone in Kreis 11. The street in front of the building is fairly calm and safe for children to play. The entrance is offset into the building, which creates a sheltered space where the doorbells are on one side and the house number is on the other one. With this offset the architect creates a first arrival space where you are in the building without entering it. This effect is intensified by the special facade structure that continues inside this niche.
The entrance consists of a steal doorframe which also frames a big window next to and above the door. Behind the glass door there is the staircase, the lift and the mailboxes. With 3.5 meters height the space is higher then usual which creates the feeling
of an entry corridor. This is also complemented by the big, high windows. Their thin frames blur the line between the inside and the outside. That way the architect extends the indoor lobby to the outside. This strengthens the sense of being in side the house without entering it.
In front of the facade on the right the floor is sealed with asphalt and there is space for bicycles. The walkway to the door is also sealed and slightly tilted to connect with the higher pedestrian path. To deal with rain there is a floor drain in front of the doorstep. The left side is filled with gravel and is therefore not sealed. Because of that there is space for trees. There are also small plants growing on this side.
The facade consists of very interesting long tiles with a curved side. Each tile has two wavelike curves on it. They are oriented vertically which creates the look of a bamboo wall. This orientation also works better with the transition at the corners. That way the niche feels much stronger, like entering a dense forest.
