ZIG ZAG Apartments
The ZIG-ZAG social housing in Horsens has been created with a specific approach in our minds. We wanted to avoid the classical boring rectangular shape of the dwellings. Therefore, we have decided to give it a little “push” from both sides providing this unconventional zigzag shape, which not only has design purpose but also allows more light to get into the apartments and create beautiful views of the harbor from both east and west sides of the building.
Both access and exits are from the main street, therefore our parking area had to be bigger to provide enough space for cars going the two directions. From there you can easily access our building through multiple entrances. The ground floor is divided into two parts northern part has 3 apartments with specialized access for handicapped people, while the south is dedicated to offices.
The first and second floors share identical layouts, each floor consisting of 4 two-room apartments and 2 three-room apartments and last we have 3rd floor with 2 penthouses.
Our team have worked within a site located right next to busy street and therefore when we wanted to design a place for people to relax, we could not really work within plot because of the noise and pollution from traffic, so we have determined to make a rooftop area, where occupants can gather around and spend some quality time over barbeque or picnic on the roof with view all around Horsens. We have achieved that by creating a green roof garden and with wooden beams reaching over your heads where evergreen climbing plants will top up the atmosphere.
The particular reason for choosing brick on the facade was our belief in natural materials, however, instead of laying classical whole bricks, we have chosen brick cladding attached to the frame. This actively demonstrates our intention of using ecological materials as this cladding can be disassembled and used again. The top floor of our building is cladded with zinc along with its pitched roof.