ROCK ON A SLOPE
This new building with its
bush-hammered exposed concrete surface stands in the foreground of a listed
building from the year 1890.
The listed villa was completely
renovated, the extensive and inappropriate developments of recent decades were
removed, and the traditional room structure was restored.
The existing retaining wall
with terrace, on the slope in front of the building, was severely and irreversibly
damaged and could therefore not be preserved.
The new construction echoes the
building configuration and cubature of the historical substance.
The rebuilding of the terrace offered
the opportunity of making the area between the retaining wall and the outer
basement wall, which had formerly been filled, accessible as living space, and of
bringing light into the basement, which had previously been quite dark.
Furthermore, the open areas of
the park-like property below the formerly forbidding retaining wall are now
directly accessible from the living space on the lowest floor (the former cellar),
and the relation to the park is established and completely revaluated.
The approving authority has
stipulated that no extension of the existing structure and no additional storey
should be visible in the external effect of the new building. This is in accord
with the spirit of the design: to feature the façade (the historical retaining
wall) of the new building as a constructed rock face on the slope and to enable
light access through three cave-like openings in the rock face.
The design concept and the
materials of the façade, with its bush-hammered exposed concrete surface, produce
the analogy to the landscape of the Würm valley and the relation of the floor
plan to the exterior:
Cave-like openings in the volume
of the constructed rock face characterise the new building and the lighting:
The existing light conditions
(the position of the sun on the property) and the lines of sight were used to
calculate the coordination between the floor plan and the cave-like openings. The
three openings enable direct sunshine at different times of the day.
The clear physical shape and
the reduction to a few distinct materials create an interplay of seclusion and
retreat, insights and outlooks.
The room-high, glass-panelled
clefts extend the interior outwards.
At the level of the monolithic
“rock face”, no disturbing technical elements such as shuttering profiles,
façade anchors or window elements are visible: the exposed concrete, here with
a bush-hammered surface, becomes a constructed rock face, a mediator between
landscape and plinth of the historical building, and the modern architecture of
the new building interlaces with the historical building fabric and the landscape.
The spacious landscape of the
property is captured with the rock face at the edge of the slope, the
transition to the building, and gives the historical building its own plinth,
which is used as a terrace.
The exposed concrete façade,
like the historical building (with tinted, uncoated mineral rendering) needs no
protective coating, so it is also integrated in the surrounding landscape like
the historical building, thanks to the haptics of the unprotected surface.
The interior design with
built-in furniture was also included in the floor-plan configuration.
The furniture surfaces are
designed as room-high panels, and with a matt, white surface, these areas are
part of the room concept and of the walls.
The white floor coating in the
new building contrasts with the “hard shell” of the façade and the flooring of
the historical building (herringbone oak).
With its clear structure and
concentration on essentials, the house has a distinctive and powerful character,
both integrating it in the landscape and preserving the autonomy of the
historical building.