House RH 1

This wood panels residential house stands at the far end of a long stretched parcel, which is set on a hillside between two roads and extending from the village to the vineyards. The floor plan of the new construction is based on the positioning of two smaller, slightly offset firewalls facing each other and abutting on the construction site. The length of the firewalls (9 m) defines the depth of the house. The conjunction of these two “docking stations” results in an offset L-shape formed by the two buildings. The transition between the two parts of the house ensures the connection between the front and back gardens. The twisted angles and vanishing lines of the gabled roof on the horizontal house and the pent roof on the perpendicular house react with the topography of the site, resulting in architectural volumes invested with a sculptural quality. The level difference across the sloped site and the ensuing overlapping of rooms allowing complex functional spatial relations inside the house, which remain invisible from the outside. The one-story perpendicular house, which features an asymmetrical ceiling height of 3 to 5 m resulting from the angle-tilted roof surface.

The children’s rooms have been aligned to an enfilade of rooms connected by large sliding doors. On the vineyard side, a strip window allows for a panoramic view on the landscape. The ground floor facing the street holds a guest-, play- and study room that can be subdivided by means of sliding panels, which also serve as chalk boards.

Subdued materials in the exterior areas (facade: untreated larch wood; roof: rolled copper) create minimal contrast with the rural environment while acknowledging the general climatic context. To counter the summer heat, the back-ventilated wooden arcade can be almost entirely shut. Horizontal folding shutters provide shading to the panoramic windows. When opened, the large wooden sliding shutters (with recessed sliding glass panels) – which even when closed allow for visual contact between the inside and outside – extend the rooms facing the courtyard towards the terrace. The sloped garden was terraced, echoing the arrangement of historic vineyards. The level differences are bridged by flights of stairs across the property and around the house.