Architectural studio Parabase has been chosen for the development of several plots of Areal Walkeweg in Basel for the purpose of creating affordable apartments and an integrated migration center. The design solution, titled “Elementa,” reuses components from deconstructed cantonal properties, transforming the former columns and floor plates into walls and façade elements. The project was chosen following an open competition, where the international jury favored Parabase’s solution for its strong aesthetics combined with the creative reuse of prefabricated concrete elements.
The housing development is located on the Walkeweg site, one of the canton’s largest development areas in the vicinity of Dreispitz, Wolf, and Irène Zurkinden-Platz sites. A 1000+ housing program is planned for this area, including affordable apartments for 650 people, an elementary school, and a kindergarten. In the first step of the development, two cooperatives have taken on the task of building around 150 new apartments by 2025. In the second stage, the canton will continue to build around 120 affordable apartments along with an integrated migration center by 2026. For this step, an international competition was held, resulting in Parabase’s winning project, Elementa.
The most distinctive element of the project is the reuse of concrete elements, a strategy that was used for the first time at this scale in Switzerland. The move reduces the need for new materials and saves the “gray energy”. The elements are recuperated from the deconstruction of the Lysbüchel parking garage and have been used as both the supporting structure of the buildings and for the construction of the facades. The industrial-looking building components have been given a more domestic image through careful detailing and by creating a differentiated design for the facades.
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21 Projects Where Kengo Kuma (Re)Uses Materials in Unusual WaysAccording to the architects, this strategy saves around 1,000,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions in the development of the project. The residential buildings also prioritize low energy consumption. In addition to the efforts to conserve existing materials, the entire development will be heated without fossil fuels. The majority of the required energy is planned to be generated by the company’s own photovoltaic system.
Adaptive reuse is a topic of emerging importance in the world of architecture, as it is a more sustainable alternative to creating new structures, while also preserving and reintegrating the cultural heritage of the site. The direction to reuse can be done at various scales, from entire buildings, as was the case for PAU’s Domino Sugar Refinery which recently opened in Brooklyn New York, to specific building materials, like the polypropylene fabric used for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, or Kengo Kuma’s material transformations and adaptations, as exemplified through several of his projects.
Project credits:
- Lead Architects: PARABASE GmbH: Carla Ferrando, Pablo Garrido Arnaiz Structural Engineering: Monotti Ingegneri Consulenti SA: Mario Monotti
- Landscape Architect: USUS Landschaftsarchitektur AG: Roger Keller, Ana Olalquiaga
- Sustainability Consulting: Senn Technology AG: Sandro Infanger
- HVAC Engineering: Anima Engineering AG
- Location: Areal Walkeweg Nord, Basel
- Program: Apartment Buildings, Migration Centre, Urban green space
- Client: Immobilien Basel Stadt Type: Open Competition, 1st Prize
- Gross Built Area: 20’000 m2
- Year: 2023-Ongoing
