Single-Family House H

The house, built in low-energy technology, is located in rural surroundings, on a lot with old fruit trees and a wonderful view out over the pastures and fields of Mensdorf. The long narrow plot hugs the contour and slopes away to the south. The topography and connection with the village setting determined the typology of the house.

The only access to the village street is from a narrow strip of land, with old farmhouses on both sides. The building stretches wedge-like into the plot, right up to the building perimeter. The long driveway is reminiscent of a farmhouse complex. Retaining walls follow the contour lines and lead to the front door and to the inner circulation zone.

The high frontage of the house, with its steep saddle roof, reflects old country barns. With its varying sizes of windows, answering the different uses of spaces beyond them, the gable façade blends with the homogenous rural architecture of the village.

The volume of the house follows the line of retaining walls, as it is obliged by the building perimeter to taper and become narrow like a tower, before continuing on into the garden in the form of a terrace. The uphill façade, a sheer wall with only a few narrow slit windows, closes staircase and corridors behind.

On the valley side, the facade is more open, with the floors offset from each other. The basement juts out slightly as it follows the contour, creating a flowing balcony like the deck rail of a ship that seems to have grown into the terrain.   

Behind the balcony, an enfilade of rooms stretches over the entire length of the ground floor, leading on to the covered terrace and to the garden. The rhythmic placement of the walls and windows in the façade create focused views of the landscape like framed natural sceneries.

The corridor zone at the rear of the building, reaching right up to roof level, gives access to all the rooms on the ground floor as well as to the bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor. A separate staircase leads to the room under the roof.

Light from the window slits in the facade is supplemented by small openings above the corridor wall so that additional light from the attic room reaches the corridor. The play of light from the window slits, the pitched roofs and the shelving built into the wooden staircase calls to mind spatial contexts from farmhouses and barns.