BAYER & STROBEL ARCHITEKTEN
House in Ottweiler
best architects 16
single family homes
Place
Ottweiler / Germany
Studio
Photos
Peter Strobel
Description
Perched high on a hillside on the outskirts of Ottweiler in Saarland, the plot looks onto a hilly meadow landscape. The long, slender structure with a simple basic form makes good use of the site’s proportions. The structure has a double symmetry: its two ends are taken up by two »halls« that fill out the entire cross-section: the entranceway with carport and on the other side the living room, which affords a beautiful panoramic view. A long corridor on the uphill side and its counterpart on the valley side – a loggia – frame the space between them, where single rooms are lined up. Two single-flight stairways to the upper level provide separate access to the areas for parents and children, eliminating the need for an upper-floor hallway. The bathroom is a connecting room. Two strip foundations, necessitating only a minimal intervention in the topography, carry a concrete »tabletop« with projections on the longitudinal sides. Apart from facilitating the earthworks, this solution also lends the house a slightly »floating« appearance. Atop the foundation slab is a timber frame structure with a vertically stacked plank floor. The materials – wood and corrugated fibre-cement sheets – are modelled on typical agricultural buildings and also enabled the clients to do some of the building themselves as desired.