Gatehouse, garden estate in Viersen

The Gartensiedlung is a new housing development in Viersen on the left bank of the Lower Rhine between Mönchengladbach and Venlo. In total, a neighbourhood of 50 customised residential buildings was created. The focus is on a high degree of individuality; from micro houses to multi-generation houses, the right solution was created for every special living situation. The architectural office Martin Breidenbach was responsible for this project, including the development, in cooperation with WohnWerkStadt GmbH.

The Torhaus Nord is one of the 50 residential buildings and is located directly at the entrance to the residential quarter. The ground floor of the building contains a commercial space. On the first two floors, there is an outpatient assisted living community with a total of 550 m² of living space. On the top floor there are two penthouses for residential and office use, including large balconies and roof terraces. The building was constructed as a timber-frame structure with cross-laminated timber ceilings. Windows, terraces and balconies are also made of wood. The façade was clad with larch wood boards. Wood was also used in the interiors for floors, stairs and furniture. The wood in combination with the ecological clay plaster on the walls forms a perfect symbiosis. The choice of ecological building materials created a pleasant and natural atmosphere. The climate-friendly, circular and pollutant-free clay plaster with its diffusion-open surfaces ensures an ideal indoor climate. Both heat and humidity are absorbed and then evenly released again. This creates a stable temperature, binds dust and odours and demonstrably reduces the risk of mould growth.

In the freely rented rooms, the clay building board was first installed with great difficulty. Subsequently, the clay base plaster with straw was used with a fabric. The loam finishing plaster fine 06 serves as a single-layer thin plaster, which consists of finest fibres and sands. Finally, the surface was finished with YOSIMA clay design plaster as well as CLAYFIX clay paint, the ever-popular shades Kolumba grey and RO 0 were chosen.

Architect's office: Martin Breidenbach

Craftsman's workshop: Wojciech Wilczek, Viersen

Photos: Werkstudio/Andreas Huppertz