Once agricultural buildings stood on this site. But they had outlived their usefulness and fallen into serious disrepair, necessitating demolition. For the building owners, whose family ties to the region run deep, creating urgently needed housing on the now-vacant land became a priority. At the same time, they wanted to strengthen the village center's character while building sustainably. The choice of wood as the primary building material was a natural one—the client is a trained carpenter, and the material itself echoes local building traditions.

With this vision in mind, Markus Binder and his interdisciplinary practice CAPE (Climate Architecture Physics Energy), in collaboration with schleicher.ragaller architects, designed a three-story residential building complemented by a covered parking and storage hall. The hall serves the owner's part-time agricultural operations and carpentry business. Both structures rest on a shared concrete base that steps with the garden's natural slope. Offset from each other, the two buildings—identical in section but varying in height and length—frame a work courtyard and extend the street space. Their dark wooden facades and raw concrete surfaces echo the character of the original structures and surrounding buildings. All residential units open generously to the south, where a rooftop photovoltaic system will soon be installed, oriented equally to the sun. The building thus generates a substantial portion of its annual heating and hot water needs. With highly insulated walls and a heat pump system, it achieves KfW 55 certification.

The two practices complemented each other's strengths on this sustainable, tradition-informed project: CAPE led the design and permitting phases, while Schleicher Ragaller managed detailed planning, procurement, and site oversight. The client, with his background in building physics, contributed valuable technical insight throughout.

www.cape-ingenieure.de
www.schleicher-ragaller.de

Photography Credits:

Zooey Braun
www.zooeybraun.de

(Published in CUBE Stuttgart 02|21)