Apartment In Large Panel System Building

Apartment in large panel system building | 2023
[Mária Maninová / (MAAT)]

Large panel system buildings were the answer to the housing shortage of the post-war period. While in Western Europe these settlements of prefabricated buildings often developed into social hotspots and some were even demolished, in Eastern Europe they are still home to a large part of the urban population. Although they are still not considered “dream” apartments, the younger generation, in particular, has accepted the prefabricated buildings, as the prices are relatively low, the floor plans are flexible, the surroundings are green areas and large trees have grown up, as they are decades after construction.

The apartment is located in an atypical building among large panel system buildings, as there are 209 apartments (approx. 500 inhabitants) on one entrance. The building is therefore able to accommodate an entire village. Most of the apartments are maisonettes – such a floor plan was rather the exception. The different floor plans of the apartments interlock like the pieces in the game Tetris. The structural system spans in the transverse direction with a 6 m span.

The floor plan was cleared out from unnecessary secondary rooms, and the acoustic separation of the rooms was solved by new, higher-quality doors. A solid concrete staircase, just like in the common areas of the house, has become part of the living room and is surrounded by storage space with a hidden entrance to one of the bedrooms.

The electrical installation had to be run visibly on the panel surface, actually giving the room a touch of industrial style. A continuous polyurethane cast floor is laid in all rooms. The original wall panels have been painted without plastering, leaving roughness and imperfections visible. Text description by the architects.