Located on Germany’s largest river island, between arms of the Elbe River, is the Wilhelmburg quarter of Hamburg. This neighborhood is the scene of an initiative to carry out more affordable quality construction. In pursuance of principles of the kind, larchwood was practically the only material used in raising this apartment block. To the list of environmental benefits that come with it, the choice of material added a notable reduction in overall execution time, and the building went up in less than four weeks, with the attendant money-saving.

The structure is composed of prefabricated pieces of wood and slabs of reinforced concrete which, besides quick assemblage, allows large spans and makes for plenty of latitude in the positioning of indoor partitions. Residents get much leeway in configuring their homes and adapting their spaces to their needs. In this way, the building comprises units of differing sizes and each can be developed independently, regardless of how the others are arranged, and they are placed in stacks around a circulation core. The final result is an offer of flexible dwellings, varying in size and type, from open-plan flats to four-bedroom duplexes...[+]