With self-confident design and clever subdivisioning, in the first years of the new millennium it was possible to implement an exemplary residential building in the state of Brandenburg, on the southern periphery of Berlin, with a square metre price of below DM 2,000.
House in the forest near Rangsdorf
Distinctive flank walls, clever subdivisioning and a sophisticated concept for a high quality of living: the house for a couple with child is a fine example of cost-conscious building. These factors resulted in the award of a BDA Prize for the project and the 2nd Prize in a competition held by the former Federal Building Ministry. The single family dwelling is located on the periphery of Berlin on a tranquil 700 square metre site with spruce trees. Between the old trees, the long building is cleverly positioned on the narrow, sloping site with the flank wall facing upwards. It sits on a rectangular platform and its flat roof covers a total of 153 square metres of living space on two levels.
The architects emphasized the south-west-facing narrow side of the house with a striking blue wall and picture-like window cut-out. The slope meets the recessed, roofed-over side entrance providing access to the interior through a house-high, transparent joint. From the outside the vertical glazing over the door indicates the depth of the elongated residential building. The stepped ground floor of the masonry structure imitates the slope, and integrates the typical residential use of a classical single-family dwelling. The open recess over the lateral steel staircase provides additional daylight. A transverse box on the first floor structures the narrow building and links the wet rooms to the sleeping quarters.
The incidence of natural light from above, a visual axis between the interior spaces, the two-storey entry zone and different ceiling heights make the individual zones of the house unique and at the same time intriguing. The box and closed façade surfaces in front of the terrace are clad with large-format, horizontally arranged teak panels and contrast with the blue flank wall and white rendered walls.
