martin mostböck completes the 'living garden' residential project in vienna

martin mostböck, in cooperation with pesendorfer | machalek architects, has completed the living garden project in the aspern seestadt, one of the largest urban development projects in europe located in the north-eastern part of vienna. designed as a green, sustainable building, the project comprises residential and apartment houses (with commercial use), while its ground floor zone is generously glazed, with shop windows, shops, pubs, bicycle rooms and access to the lobbies of the three stairways.

martin mostböck and pesendorfer | machalek architects, have designed the living garden as a way to bring nature as deeply as possible into the city and offer the inhabitants and residents a green lung. the conceptual core behind the project is defined as the forest (the open space in the courtyard), the green vein (the ramp along the facade), the leaves (the generous terraces) and the green skin (the facade of the building).

developed by VI-engineers and owned by fair finance, the building includes 37 apartments and 19 apartments, accessed via the three stairways of the lobbies, most of which are single-story ‘through flats’ or over corner, two-sided oriented apartments. in the graded part of the building are apartments (three-sided oriented) with balconies and generous roof terraces planned, while circulating, spacious balconies in front of the flats act as a buffering zone. ‘for these balconies we had the fleeting idea of a pueblo, a strong, archaic form; a pueblo that does not work as usual as a subtraction, but as an addition,’ notes mostböck. ‘thus, these additional spaces gained are a plus in areas that are added value for the resident and in the truest sense of the word “priceless.’

a green vein rises along the building’s façade, connecting the green terraces and opening onto an intensively green roof, where inhabitants can enjoy views of the lake of the seestadt. on the largest terrace, above the first floor, areas for urban gardening are provided. this vertical, green skin is created by planters placed on the balconies (including irrigation) from which the vegetation develops vertically along the facade and continues horizontally via pergolas. the façade is maintained every six months from the outside.