Studio Supernova

Description

The single-family house, which forms the northern half of a semi-detached unit built in 1968 as a solid masonry structure on a steep slope in Tübingen, has been modernised for a family of four. Despite structural damage, the building fabric has been preserved, and the existing oil storage room, as well as the rooms built into the slope outside the legally permitted building footprint – whose roofs form part of the stepped hillside access path – has been retrospectively legalised and converted into utility and garden service rooms. The site’s distinctive quality – the expansive view across the landscape – inspired the creation of large openings cut into the existing structure. The staggered volumetric composition of the house, with its varied window formats, was further developed and extended horizontally through a sequence of terraces, seating steps and staircases. The split-level floors were reorganised. The entrance area was relocated to follow the flow of the hillside access, allowing two children’s bedrooms to be created on the lower level. The two upper levels were reinterpreted as a landscape for cooking, dining, living and working. To establish connections between the split-level floors, the central wall was opened up with a large circular cutout fitted with slats that can create gradual degrees of transparency. The existing balcony was enlarged and now extends the living space. Two large seating windows, which echo the deep-set pre-existing window, create the feeling of sitting within the canopy of the old oak tree beside the house.