Open living space, secure retreat: the new era of urban living

Urbanization is one of the megatrends of our time. While 70 percent of the world’s population still lived in rural areas in 1950, two thirds of humanity are expected to live in cities by 2050. In industrialized countries such as Switzerland, this process has taken place at breakneck speed. At the end of 2023, around 84.9 percent of people in Switzerland already lived in urban areas. However, unlike many other countries, urban living in Switzerland does not necessarily mean limited living space. Per capita living space has been increasing for decades, rising from 45 m² to 46.2 m² between 2013 and 2021 alone. Office and commercial buildings left vacant as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and now converted for residential purposes also play a role here.

New living trends: balancing privacy and community

Closely linked to this development is an increasing trend towards demand-oriented and flexible use of space. Digitalization, a housing shortage, and mobile working are also contributing to the rapidly changing requirements for urban living and are blurring the boundaries between living areas, which were previously clearly separated. With projects such as Zurich’s residential and commercial building Kalkbreite, the Hunziker area, or Basel’s Stücki Park as forerunners, co-living and co-working are establishing themselves as forms of living in Switzerland’s urban centers. The focus of these modern housing communities is on living and working together and networking. These cluster apartments usually feature high-end amenities with a separate room and bathroom for each occupant, as well as large living, dining, and fitness areas and co-working spaces for shared use. 

Innovative door and sealing solutions for modern living concepts

The choice of suitable door, locking, and sealing concepts plays a key role in the spatial structuring of such living space solutions. Glazed doors emphasize the transparent loft character, creating an esthetically clear structure and a light-flooded atmosphere at the same time. Drop-down seals are a useful addition for making optimum use of heating energy or keeping food odors away from other living areas. Solutions such as Planet KG-S from ASSA ABLOY can be attached to glazed doors by a simple adhesive connection. The drop-down seal achieves a noise reduction of up to 48 dB – ideal for spontaneous meetings without disturbing others. Sound and smoke protection sliding doors as well as large pivot doors can also be equipped with Planet drop-down seals.

Electronic access solutions for hybrid living and working spaces

When private and professional use overlap, as in the co-living spaces described, there is no need to compromise on security, despite an open design. Electronic access control solutions are particularly suitable for maintaining control over sensitive doors. ASSA ABLOY’s programmable wireless SMARTair hardware enables easy control over who has access to which doors. It can be conveniently operated using RFID cards, PIN codes, or a combination of both. Together with the Openow app, the smartphone also becomes the key. This provides additional flexibility in use and security, as no physical identification media need to be issued. In its simplest version, this elegant locking solution can be deployed immediately without any complicated access control software but can also be easily expanded. With KESO eCLIQ or KESO Integra, access authorizations for the different and constantly changing user groups can also be defined quickly and easily for each key. Additional doors can be added to authorizations without the need for facility management to constantly exchange or replace keys. Lost keys are simply disabled via the appropriate software.

Esthetics meet security: high-quality wooden doors and door handles on-trend

The interplay of esthetics and security also plays a role when it comes to external doors. While an open and transparent design predominates in the living spaces, things can be a little more robust on the outside. Building or apartment doors made of solid wood are on-trend here. However, the high weight and “working” of the wood in the event of temperature fluctuations also call for high-performance door locks designed to withstand such stress. MSL PolyTribloc, BiTribloc, and RollTribloc locks are a good choice, as they enable effortless unlocking and locking of large or heavy doors up to 300 kg, even in the event of warping. The strong follower spring not only ensures high functional reliability, but also allows the use of heavy and solid handles, so architects and planners benefit from greater design freedom.