2011 Katrin TackeKatrin Tacke - LONDON GRAND - Lincoln's Inn Fields Apartments
The aim of the task is the implementation of a residential building at Lincoln's Inn Fields in the urban centre of London. Housing at a high level and the spacious town flat in a historical context come under scrutiny in this project.
The monolithic masonry structure gives little insight into its complex inner life and radiates through his massiveness a defensive character. Thus it provides to its well-off residents the luxury of a retreat in the dense metropolis, which is otherwise only provided by the seclusion of a villa in the countryside. The building may be reminiscent of a jewellery box, whose valuable content is not to guess from the outside.
The building, which mimics the function of a corner tower, sets the crucial emphasis on the western end of the terrace (row of houses), whose centre is accentuated by the salient John Soane Museum and is completed by several tall buildings in the east. By this means it brings the historic structure back into balance and acts despite its height as an intermediary.
The volume of the interior spaces is gradually carved out of the mass of the building. The remaining mass provides service rooms, closets, alcoves and secret passages. This stereotonic way of building is in contrast to the tectonic designing of spaces by the use of walls. The design picks up historical typologies and rooms, from medieval tower houses or baroque palaces to rooms, like the boudoir, the drawing room or the smoking room, which are rather known from mansions of the last century.
By the high level of detailling and the complex spatial relationships the project obtains a narrative character. It plays with the characteristics of rooms, the haptics of the materials and the elaborate details, such as fittings, lighting and wallcoverings. It creates rich atmospheres
The monolithic masonry structure gives little insight into its complex inner life and radiates through his massiveness a defensive character. Thus it provides to its well-off residents the luxury of a retreat in the dense metropolis, which is otherwise only provided by the seclusion of a villa in the countryside. The building may be reminiscent of a jewellery box, whose valuable content is not to guess from the outside.
The building, which mimics the function of a corner tower, sets the crucial emphasis on the western end of the terrace (row of houses), whose centre is accentuated by the salient John Soane Museum and is completed by several tall buildings in the east. By this means it brings the historic structure back into balance and acts despite its height as an intermediary.
The volume of the interior spaces is gradually carved out of the mass of the building. The remaining mass provides service rooms, closets, alcoves and secret passages. This stereotonic way of building is in contrast to the tectonic designing of spaces by the use of walls. The design picks up historical typologies and rooms, from medieval tower houses or baroque palaces to rooms, like the boudoir, the drawing room or the smoking room, which are rather known from mansions of the last century.
By the high level of detailling and the complex spatial relationships the project obtains a narrative character. It plays with the characteristics of rooms, the haptics of the materials and the elaborate details, such as fittings, lighting and wallcoverings. It creates rich atmospheres
