Synergenerational Housing Karlovy Vary

This thesis explores the design of a multi-generational housing complex that fills a vacant lot in the wider downtown area of Karlovy Vary. The site forms a distinct spatial boundary: it connects to the citys street network at the front and is bounded at the rear by a massive retaining wall and an elevated wooded park. Within this context, the thesis introduces a housing concept that moves away from segregated senior living facilities. Instead, it naturally integrates seniors, students, and young families into a single building, thereby architecturally preventing social isolation and fostering intergenerational support. The design responds to the contrast between the bustling street and the quiet hillside through both physical and functional division. The first two floors form a mixed-use base. Its ground floor, featuring a café, opens fully onto the city and connects urbanistically to the newly landscaped public space in front of the municipal library across the street. The second floor builds on this activity with semi-private community and spa facilities that serve the buildings residents. Starting on the third floor, the residential section is divided into a street-facing wing and a set-back rear wing, with the community atrium forming the focal point. Residential life is closely integrated with the atrium via an open gallery, which replaces traditional hallways and serves as the main gathering space. The placement of student, family, and senior apartments along a single horizontal corridor thus naturally fosters social synergy. The entire building transcends its basic residential function and becomes an active element in the neighborhood. In addition to enhancing the immediate surroundings, it serves as a vertical urban link that, thanks to its internal circulation cores, allows for barrier-free movement across the terrain. For the buildings residents, it functionally complements the existing pedestrian route running along the neighboring building and creates a new, private connection between street level and the park above the retaining wall.