The Hanseatic city of Rostock’s old city centre is being expanded with modern housing on the meadow area between the city walls and the Warnow. The connection from the new development to the medieval town is formed by the recreated canal street “Gerber Bruch”, which ends not far from the imposing St Peter’s Church from 1252. Both towards the canal street and towards the end of the meadow landscape in the unshaped courtyard, the urban is interpreted by the immediate transition between public and private. The city expects the meadow area to flood in early spring. This special condition has contributed to the design of a continuous plateau that creates an architectural connection between the dwellings above the “waterline”. The residential development includes a wide variety of homes – from New York lofts to two-storey townhouses with private roof terraces. The multi-storey dwellings create both views and surprising spatial qualities through the broken facade line. The project was realised in collaboration with VLA, Copenhagen.

European competition 2012, 1st prize

Client: City of Rostock and “Wohnanlage Petriviertel GmbH und Co.KG”