Description

The shape of the house evolved entirely in response to the unique characteristics of the site. Hemmed in by a homogeneous Victorian row and a heterogeneous rear building, the lot is a residual building gap in the shape of a triangle. Devoid of conventional facades and windows, it lies between three fire walls and is entirely inward in orientation. With its enclosing brick walls, three patios, and sculptural roof, the house is only ever visible as a fragment from the outside, without a defined front or rear. Access is through the carriageway of the adjacent Victorian terrace and via a ramp that leads past a patio with exterior stairs and directly into the living area, which occupies nearly the entire upper level.

This space is defined entirely by form and material; it is bounded by stairs leading to the private rooms downstairs, the galley kitchen, the large patio at the far end of the room, and the sculptural, reinforced concrete roof, whose pronounced three-dimensional differences in height and skylights create subtle accents in the individual areas.

On the lower level, the cruciform hall and block-like bathrooms and storage rooms create the voids for the private rooms, whose walls transition almost seamlessly onto the patios thereby extending the interior to the exterior. Here, too, the consistency in material and the dark built-in furniture once again serve to emphasize the fluid sculptural character of the space. The same plasticity is found on the three patios, which bathe the rooms in a soft, muted light.

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Originally published in: Oliver Heckmann, Friederike Schneider (eds.), Floor Plan Manual Housing, fourth revised and expanded edition, Birkhäuser, 2011.