ArkiSpot

3XN is currently developing a radically daring yet surprisingly pragmatic idea. An idea that was awarded at this years MIPIM - with the MIPIM AR Future Projects Award 2006 in the category ‘Residential’…

At present, Copenhagen is experiencing rapid development. Hundreds of new apartments are being erected especially at the Northern Harbor (Nordhavnen), not far away from the city centre. This area is urged by us to develop into a playground for creative designs and new ways of perceiving the way we live.

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The I.B.3 residential building is located in the Gemmayzé area on plot
# 595 Saifi in Beirut. Our design mission was developed around the
shell and core principle which consists of designing the structure of
the edifice, its facades and the common areas, leaving all the
inhabitable surfaces to be partitioned and finished by the architects
of the future owners of each residence. The particularity of the design
resides in the free plans proposed initially on all the levels of the
building. Every residence is developed around a different section
providing each apartment with high ceilings (4.35m to 5.5m) in the
reception areas. All apartments feature a split level and / or double
level section. The façade of the edifice is designed to accommodate and
compose with the variations in its openings that are a consequence of
the differences in plan and section of all the residences within the
building. Facades are finished in solid wood sections mounted on
modular aluminum frames. The envelope of the edifice is shaped by the
maximum allowable volume on its site. Residences in the I.B.3 building
should be regarded as suspended “urban villas”. Two townhouses are
located at the ground level, four residences are interlocked in the
main body of the building and a three storey penthouse occupies the top
levels of the building.
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The project originates from the consideration of: the existing conflict between the necessity for urban densification and the preference of most people to live in the suburbs in a one-family house surrounded by their own garden on the one hand and; the attempt to create an innovative building type which preserves the superb view - not only for the happy few who can afford to live in these towers, but also for their neighbours and the passers-by - on the other hand.

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