Adaptable housing
Wohnregal
A live-work building that turns an industrial precast concrete system into open, adaptable ateliers for varied ways of living and working.
Overview
Wohnregal is a six-storey live-work building in Berlin by FAR frohn&rojas. It uses precast concrete elements more often found in industrial warehouse construction: pillars, beams, and long-span TT ceiling elements.
The system creates a clear span of about 13 metres from façade to façade, with no structural walls inside the units. This gives the building a simple, repetitive structure, but allows the interiors to vary from floor to floor.
Why it matters
Wohnregal separates standardised construction from standardised living. Its industrial prefabricated structure helped keep the building economical and fast to assemble, while leaving the interiors open and flexible.
The live-work ateliers range from 35 to 110 square metres. Interior partitions are built in drywall, so layouts can change without affecting the main structure. Large sliding glass doors form the east and west façades, allowing the living spaces to open to the outside and work almost like loggias in warmer months.
For Better Housing Atlas, Wohnregal is a strong example of housing that borrows from industrial construction without accepting the usual limits of repetition. It uses prefabrication for speed and economy, but keeps complexity where it matters most: in inhabitation.
Image credit
Images courtesy of FAR frohn&rojas. Photography: David von Becker, Tobias Wootton