Minimalissimo

Wooden House by the Lake

architecture

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Location
Bavaria, Germany
Architecture
Appels Architekten
Construction
Handel Junghans Architects
Structural Engineering
Merz Kley Partner
Photography
Florian Holzherr

This minimalist family home expresses its inner life, its context of seasons, light, and surroundings in a simple architectural figure. Designed by Swiss firm Appels Architekten, the house distinguishes between private rooms and a generous open space for daily family life. All private rooms are artistically composed to a sculpture of wooden cubes in between which the open space can unfold horizontally and vertically, bringing in light deep into the house (even in winter), drawing views into the garden, the treetops, and across the lake from any vantage point.

The spatial sculpture of the facade appears in rhythmic alternation of open and closed. Wooden slats cover the cubes, while the windows disappear behind translucent folding shutters, which can be opened for an unobstructed view. On the ground floor, the huge windows can be completely tucked away in wall pockets. Similarly, the kitchen can be fully opened to the outside space.

The use of wood as a renewable resource makes it possible to reduce both the proportion of non-renewable primary energy and CO2 emissions during construction. In addition to the advantage of wood as a carbon store, the wood construction allows a high degree of prefabrication off-site compared to conventional solid construction, allowing shorter assembly times.

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