Attached Buildings in Gamla stan

…What’s warmer? A glove or a mitten?

Attached buildings – call them townhouses or row houses or terrace houses, have been the preferred form of village housing all over the world, for thousands of years. There are very good reasons for this.

Common walls mean less material costs and less exposed surface area to maintain. Sound-proofing is important and possible.

Less exposed surface area means lower heating costs. Multi-level construction is easier to heat and reduces the area of foundation and roof, two of the most expensive components in building construction.

Kaching!

This building style is also a natural for the establishment of inexpensive, low overhead, commercial enterprises on the ground floor.

- From the six key design elements of the Piscataquis Village Project.