House R
Nov 24, 2011Roger Christ
Thomas Herrmann
2010
Karlsruhe, Germany
455 sqm
Residential
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Notes
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.
The 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.