Baur & Latsch Architekten

Description

A new single-family home was inserted into a neighbourhood of detached houses from the 1960s. The existing typologies merge into a morphologically concise new basic form. The residential building is a cube from which a volume was cut out on each side. In this way, the new building interlocks with the outside space on all sides. The house derives its identity from the contradiction between parts of the building that are light versus heavy or exposed versus sheltered. The result is a porous monolith that renegotiates the openings between exterior and interior space at every point. The ground-floor living area is conceived as a single room that opens out onto the garden with its beautiful trees. The entrance, cooking, dining and living functions are arranged as a contiguous sequence of spaces with different ceiling heights around the staircase in the centre. Overheight rooms link this shared level with the private level above, thus offering the opportunity for communication within the house. The private spaces on the upper floor are organised in two clearly defined units, each consisting of three rooms. In contrast to the ground floor, the rooms here have a sheltered character with specific views of the garden, such as the cherry tree or the silver maple. The compact, solid construction of the house with external walls made of porous insulating bricks and reinforced concrete ceilings has resulted in a robust building with a long life cycle.