The strategy developed by Sampling is based primarily on adaptive reuse, prioritizing the preservation of existing structures regardless of their initial architectural value. This approach reduces the use of new resources while simultaneously creating a new, thoughtful, and respectful spatial quality. Interior spaces are reorganized to accommodate different housing types, from duplex studios to larger units with terraces.
The intervention included, on the one hand, the renovation of the main building's facades and, on the other, the reconstruction and adaptation of the industrial buildings in the courtyard for residential use. Like the pages of a palimpsest, the design preserves the traces of its different construction phases. As part of its adaptation, the project incorporates chromatic elements and new installations executed with contemporary materials and techniques.
The interior courtyard is transformed into an urban oasis that acts as a unifying element for the complex. More than just a residual space, the garden is conceived as a meeting place that fosters community life, replacing the traditional use of parking with green areas and shared spaces. Through features such as large windows, permeable terraces, and a close relationship between interior and exterior, the garden becomes the heart of the project, enhancing both the environmental quality and neighborly relations.
Augustines Garden by Sampling. Photograph by Madara Kuplā.
Project description by Sampling
Augustine's Garden is a residential ensemble consisting of an Art Nouveau tenement house and former low-rise industrial buildings in the courtyard. The project included the renovation of the facades of the street house and the reconstruction of the courtyard buildings, adapting them to the residential function. The courtyard of the quarter has been transformed into a contemporary urban garden, whose post-industrial aesthetic reflects the concept of adaptive reuse—to preserve and adapt to new use any building, regardless of its original architectural value.
The building on the street - an Art Nouveau tenement house designed in the National Romantic style - was designed by Aleksandrs Vanags. As part of this project, the facades of the building were renovated and insulated. This is a particularly delicate task for a historic façade, which is why it was insulated from the inside on the street side. On the outside, the original decorations of the building have been restored: rough plaster areas alternate with smooth ones, preserving the monochrome solution, typical for the Latvian architecture of the time.
The façade is complemented by carmine red accents - a tin roof and window sills, in which the façade lighting is seamlessly integrated. An olive-green gate with a laconic design completes the gatehouse: there, the historic vaulting is restored, and contemporary lighting elements are added to the wall.
Through the gatehouse, one enters the courtyard, where an unexpected scene appears—a green oasis in the heart of the city. The courtyard is surrounded by former industrial and workshop buildings that have been reconstructed several times over the years. The facades still bear witness to these reconstructions, with building materials from different eras, ranging from the ceramic bricks and metal beam lintels of the early 20th century to the white silicate bricks popular during the Soviet period. This collage is complemented by various rudimentary steel elements that once had a functional role.
The project’s concept is based on the idea of adaptive reuse, which aims to minimise the use of new buildings and materials and maximise the preservation of existing structures, regardless of their architectural value. Adaptive reuse as an approach increases the architectural value of buildings, giving them not only a new function but also aesthetic qualities. The interior layout of the buildings has been adapted to the residential function. The complex comprises both small studio duplexes and larger apartments with terraces and French balconies.
The garden is conceived as a unifying, community-building element. The project refuses to continue the common practice of dedicating courtyards to parking, instead providing bicycle parking and landscaping. Also, architectural tools are employed to foster a sense of community. Ground floor windows are large, with low and wide concrete windowsills on which to sit on hot summer days. When opening the windows, the indoor space flows organically into the outdoor space.
Outside, there are small terraces, deliberately not surfaced with raised boards or other materials, but with a solid gravel base on which outdoor furniture can be placed. They are thus immersed in the surrounding greenery, without any indication of boundaries, but at the same time allowing a relative privacy, since the entire courtyard is in fact common property.
