The homeowners in Sankt Augustin had a clear vision: bright, open rooms with strong connections to the outdoors. They also wanted the flexibility to age in place comfortably on a single level. Cologne-based architects Enck-Oswald rose to the challenge, designing a two-storey residence that ingeniously staggers its volumes to create distinct living zones. The result opens generously to the garden, seamlessly blending interior and exterior space.

The surrounding neighbourhood presented a fragmented urban fabric—inconsistent building lines and disparate architectural styles made referencing context nearly impossible. The architects responded with uncompromising clarity: two staggered ground-floor volumes form a cubic two-storey mass, with a central single-flight staircase marking where they meet. This geometric strategy yields multiple benefits—a cantilevered roof naturally shelters the street-facing entrance, while two roof terraces connect directly to the upper-floor bedrooms. The transition from public street to private living space reads as a deliberate threshold, defined by the canopy and stepped recession. Yet between interior, terrace, and garden, the boundary dissolves. A bay window and continuous glass sliding doors wrapping around the corner let the living spaces flow outward, partially shaded by the cantilever's protective reach. The study and guest room face the street, positioned to convert easily into a bedroom for age-appropriate single-level living later on. Outside, the home wears a refined two-tone plaster façade; inside, single-leaf masonry does the heavy lifting. This solid wall construction deliberately sidesteps the embodied energy of composite thermal systems—both in manufacturing and disposal—while leveraging the thermal mass properties of solid materials. A geothermal heat pump anchors the home's energy strategy.

www.enck-oswald.de

Photography Credits:

Martin Gaissert
www.martingaissert.de

(Featured in CUBE Cologne Bonn 01|22)