![Niine Apartment Building / KUU Architects - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/47b1/e58e/ce9f/c200/005b/newsletter/KUU007.jpg?1459505052)
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Architects: KUU Architects
- Area: 1000 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Tõnu Tunnel
![Niine Apartment Building / KUU Architects - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/47cb/e58e/cea3/f400/005f/newsletter/KUU006.jpg?1459505079)
Text description provided by the architects. The building is fitted into the urban tissue of a mostly residential historic area. The plot is big enough to leave a gap between the other buildings. With a 300 m2 footprint, the house is also a bit smaller than the adjacent buildings. This gave us the chance to preserve most of the trees and create a large back-yard with a playground, parking, and a communal terrace shared by the residents. In the front, the building creates a recess in the building line for the main entrance.
![Niine Apartment Building / KUU Architects - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/477d/e58e/ce9f/c200/005a/newsletter/KUU009.jpg?1459505000)
The first floor level is not much higher than the pavement, which provides a voyeuristic perspective into the apartments and, we believe, contributes to the street by fading the border between private and public space.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/49ae/e58e/cea3/f400/0061/newsletter/Niine_Section_KUU.jpg?1459505564)
The building’s shape is inspired by the roofscapes of the neighbouring houses. The attics in the area all have a romantic sense to them, having historically been occupied by low-rent tenants and now being treated as more exclusive living spaces. We wanted to maximize the space on the top floor, and give it a strong spatial character with slanted ceilings and spaces up to 4 meters high. The owners of the third floor apartments were encouraged to build a mezzanine level, which some of them successfully did.
![Niine Apartment Building / KUU Architects - Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/4748/e58e/cea3/f400/005d/newsletter/KUU012.jpg?1459504948)
The building is viewable from all four sides and all facades are treated equally. We aimed to create a monolithic form wrapped in a skin of wooden strips. The wood strip skin is a historical element characteristic to 1930-s wooden Tallinn-type buildings dominating the area. The skin creates a decorative quality to the facade and also constitutes a barrier for balconies.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/49cc/e58e/ce9f/c200/005f/newsletter/Niine_1_Floor_KUU.jpg?1459505587)
The detail level in the buildings architecture has been kept to a minimum to create a ’background for life’ and considering that a lot of artefacts will appear in the course of daily life.
![Niine Apartment Building / KUU Architects - Windows, Fence](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56fe/47e5/e58e/ce9f/c200/005c/newsletter/KUU002.jpg?1459505106)