Description

Nine, generous, introverted patio homes arranged on four shorter and five longer lots. The garden size varies, although the spatial program and dimensions are identical throughout. Behind the windowless separating wall to the street, each house opens in a surprising sequence of continuous rooms and courtyards: the narrow entrance door leads into a verdant interior courtyard with a separate entrance into the first bedroom. The lobby is followed by a top-lit “distribution” space around which the bedrooms and respective bathrooms are grouped, overlooking the central, paved patio with less greenery, which separates and at the same time connects private zones and living areas.

A corridor, in which a built-in unit serves as a divider to create a small work area, leads to the generous living room. Floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors provide a seamless transition between living room and garden. The kitchen is separated from the living room by a concrete panel, which continues into the garden and thus creates a link between interior and exterior. The garden space is framed on all sides by tall, white-washed concrete walls, which guide the eye to an old overgrown wall on the far side and to the sky. The larger units feature a swimming pool and pool house at the end of the garden. The strongest feature of the scheme lies in the concentrated arrangement: minimal details, clearly delineated rooms, and allocations linked by a distinctive spatial flow.

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