House Schulzendorf | Transstruktura - Architektur Stadt Objekt

The house for a family of four was built in a Brandenburg village on the outskirts of Berlin. The narrow and elongated plot of land, which is situated next to a pine forest, had a significant influence on the planning. We used the advantages of the property and developed the principle of “living-through” together with the owners.Thus, the main rooms are equally oriented towards the forest in the north and towards a cobbled avenue on the south side.

The large two-storey residential building is supplemented by a smaller shed, which includes a carport and storage areas. The two structures are based on the same primary form.

The house was designed as a hybrid construction. The massive ground floor with a middle wall that reaches up to the roof ridge brings a climatic inertia into the building and allows the light attic, which sits like a “wooden box” on top of the concrete ground floor. The walls and the roof of the upper floor were planned in a timber frame construction. The outer skin of the walls is clad with carbonized pine boards. This charred wood surface not only provides ecological protection against the weather, its glossy surface makes it a unique sight, as it creates impressive effects depending on the light situation.

The interior of the building is structured by a continuous central wall. This two-storey wall divides the building into common rooms and development roomsand is therefore asymmetrical in the building width. In terms of construction, this wall made of fair-faced concrete also becomes a support for the ridge, so that the inner building structure also shapes the outer shell.

We designed the living, cooking and dining area as a central, 15-metre-long and 4-metre-wide main room. The bright dining area faces south. The cooking area is centrally located on the side wall. The living area is lowered to mark it as a protected place and to establish contact with the adjacent forest.

The main entrance to the house is in a niche. A hallway with a straight concrete staircase mediates between the ground floor and upper floor. A possible division of the house into two independent units has already been considered.

The central wall and the ceiling are kept visible in concrete and the entire floors are sealed with heated screed in concrete look, thus creating a clear and uniform surface materiality. The staircase was prefabricated in a concrete factory and thus has a fine, smooth concrete surface.

On the outside the detached house in Schulzendorf is a black solitaire, but the interiors are bright, the walls on the upper floor are covered with white glazed wood. The black accessories – like the switches and door handles – form a harmonious contrast. Together with our clients we designed and executed a DIY stair railing. A free pattern is woven or stretched into a pre-installed black steel frame with a rope.

Project team: Andreas Heim, Nataliya Sukhova, Viktor Hoffmann