A Music Room
Extension of a 1958/74 house, Schriesheim/Germany, 2013-15
Perched on the beautiful Branich hill in Schriesheim near Heidelberg, this music room with roof terrace for a violinist offers an unforgettable panorama of the Upper Rhine Valley and the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, with Speyer Cathedral in the far south, and Biblis nuclear power station in the north.
Built by a widowed mother of two in 1958, the original blockwork house was converted into a two-family house in 1974 with the option to vertically extend at a later stage. The resulting 50m2 roof terrace proved to be too large and exposed to the elements to be used comfortably. The music room sits atop half of the 1974 extension, and, along with the new timber decked terrace, is the last piece in completing the house.
New building regulations and the fact of current inhabitation called for a light and fast construction method. Designed as a prefabricated timber frame construction, the lightweight structure of the room and terrace was delivered in five parts and erected in a single day.
The sandwich walls are insulated with wood fibres blown under high pressure into the construction. On the outside the timber structure is clad with an insulated render system in a dark-beige colour on wood fibre boards. The deep and distinctive horizontal brush finish of the mineral render is in stark contrast to the smoothed walls inside.
The dominant colour inside is dark brown. Used for both the walls and the ceiling it is contrasted by the pine wood window frames and sills, and the maple wood of the floor. The dark hue dims the generous sunlight which travels through the large openings and which is reflected by the pale floor.
The three openings are positioned in such a way that they offer unobstructed views onto the valley immediately after entering the music room from the existing living room.
All windows are top hung and fully reversible aluminium clad timber windows. A deep canopy on the west facade protects the panorama window from direct sunlight. Eight curtains are drawn into niches integrated into the structural mullions of the panorama window. The small side window and the sliding door can be closed with insulated aluminium roller shutters.
Like the floor, the bespoke door is made from maple wood but stained dark to match the walls. Similarly, all services parts such as sockets, switches, luminaires and radiators are of anthracite colour.
The music room provides a low carbon, sustainable and recyclable contribution to contemporary architecture. It was designed, cost-estimated, specified, tendered, negotiated and contracted by Studio Becher, London. A local architect was commissioned to coordinate the construction site. The London office of Studio Becher remained lead designer during the construction phase, visiting the site on a regular basis.
Project duration: 2013-2015
Private client
Contract value: €90'000
Gross internal area: 23m2
Project architect: Peter Karl Becher
Site architect: Joachim Schuhmacher, Schriesheim
Structural engineer: Ingenieurbüro Thulke, Mannheim
Timber construction: Georg Grüber, Schriesheim
Windows and joinery: Armin Dremel, Schriesheim
Render system: Vasco Pereira, Schriesheim