Project: House R
Architects: Christ.Christ. Associated Architects
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
Area: 4,897 sq ft
Photographs by: Thomas Herrmann
Christ.Christ. Associated Architects, a Weisbaden-based studio, has designed the House R – a contemporary, single family residence in Karlsruhe, Germany.
As you will notice immediately, the house has a transparent, glass facade facing the street. For privacy reasons, this view may be closed with a system of exterior shades that also provide protection from the suns in addition to protecting from curious eyes.
Even though it looks like there are only two floors, this is actually a four story residence where the first floor is actually dug in and the fourth floor is on the roof. All of the levels are connected with two open stairways formed from poured-in-place concrete.
From the architects: “The property once was a part of a northern situated villa. A pavilion, which belongs to the historic ensemble, is part of the wall that encloses the property on all three sides.
he 4-storey single-family house is reached via a forecourt and a ramp. The main entrance on the northern side and a second entrance via the carport lead to the entrance area. The stories are connected by an open stairway and an elevator. North side ramp and the integration of an elevator refers to demographic development and possible handicap.
On the ground floor there is the entrance area, home office, double-height living room with a kitchen and a dining area. The first floor contains a gallery as a more private living area, two children’s rooms with dressing room and bathroom.”
“The attic floor with a roof terrace on three sides is reserved for the parents. It is not divided into rooms; the individual functional devices (bed, washbasin, bath tub, bathroom-box and dressing area) are accordingly loft kind arranged. Finally in the basement is the swimming pool with a projecting light shaft, guest room, bathroom and the building equipment.
In order to achieve an optimal exposure to light in the basement the ground floor is floating 1 m above the terrain level whereby a 50 cm high window band could be realized. The skylight and the light shaft flood the basement with natural light.
Cross-ventilation is created via automatically controlled louver windows. The glass areas are equipped with exterior sun protection, which screens the residents from view at the same time. Because of night cooling and exterior sun protection it was not necessary to install an air condition system. The thermal mass of the concrete walls functions as a cooling storage, cooling the rooms throughout the day.”
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