There are moments in life that call for new spaces. For a family of five, this moment was the initial spark for the "Haus Himmelberg" project. "We'll build a new house for our third child" - this was the promise that architect Andreas M. Schwickert made to his wife, and a few years later he designed a house whose architecture is inspired by classic modernism, but is also spacious and well thought out.

The site, an elongated area on the edge of a development area, required sensitive planning due to its hillside location, narrow access road and open landscape. The architect's idea was to structure the mass, create lightness and focus on nature. The result was a residential building with three interlocking structures. Their staggering not only follows the topography, but also clearly organizes the functions: office and service on the hillside floor, living and meeting on the first floor, retreat and privacy on the upper floor. Steel columns support the cantilevered upper floor, while a glass joint separates the levels visually and structurally. As a result, the heaviest volume rests seemingly weightlessly above the plinth.

The spatial organization follows the everyday life of the residents. The first floor has an open floor plan for cooking, dining and living - always with a view of the landscape. Three children's rooms with their own bathroom, play area and a parents' wing with sauna and wellness zone are located on the upper floor. The carefully directed views not only provide unobstructed views, but also protect the family's privacy: floor-to-ceiling windows in front of the free-standing bathtub are just as possible as a panoramic view through the glass front of the sauna. There is space for two home offices in the basement, connected by a bright courtyard that brings natural light deep into the building. An open stairwell with a handcrafted folding staircase made of raw steel and oak flooring is crowned by a narrow skylight strip that appears to be flush with the outer wall. Together with the deep courtyard and large window fronts, it provides light-flooded rooms, even in the corridors on the slope side of the ground floor and basement, as well as varied visual relationships.

The garden was designed as a transition into nature via the adjacent meadow. Provision has even been made for the future: the sloping floor can be separated off later as a separate unit if required. In the new family home, materiality is not just a feature, but an attitude. Hand-formed clinker brick, natural oak floorboards, exposed concrete in the office area, raw oiled steel for stairs and cladding - everything is tangibly genuine. Even the aluminium windows and façade remain metallic and vibrant thanks to anodization instead of powder coating. The light-colored scratch plaster on the upper floor is untreated and also offers a self-cleaning effect. A geothermal probe heat pump, a ventilation system with heat recovery and a 25 kWp photovoltaic system ensure a sustainable energy supply - even for the pool integrated into the slope. A logical consequence of the energy-efficient planning.

Not least thanks to a number of individual fixtures and hidden storage spaces, the promise has been fulfilled with a home that is as elegant as it is practical for a family that likes to have guests and celebrate.

www.fachwerk4.de

Photos:
Christian Eblenkamp
www.christian-eblenkamp.de

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 02|25)