Located roughly 50 km east of Berlin, Elsensee was once home to weekend and holiday retreats exclusively. A recent change in local regulations now permits year-round residential construction. On the northern shore, a striking single-family home in in-situ concrete rose on a sprawling 1,600 m² parcel, complete with an outbuilding. Positioned at the lake's northern edge, the residence captures abundant southern exposure while remaining just steps from the water.

The clients had encountered the remarkable "Saarow Strand" house by Berlin architects Augustin and Frank/Winkler on Lake Scharmützel and sought out the same team for their own extraordinary design. The result vindicated their choice entirely: a two-storey detached residence with a distinctive geometry—technically square, yet featuring graceful curves in place of sharp corners—alongside a garage and guest quarters. The design proves that careful collaboration yields exceptional outcomes.

A fully glazed ground floor with sliding glass elements creates complete transparency, offering unobstructed views of the lake from every angle. The structure sits free of the earth—no basement, surrounded by terrace—appearing almost to float, as though awaiting transport. The upper storey cantilevers gently, seeming to hover on its glass plinth. Rotating wall panels and sliding doors enable flexible room configurations, while an interior corridor circumnavigates the entire upper level.

Structural integrity derives from a central stairwell core and slender steel profiles at the corners, requiring close collaboration between architects and specialist engineers. The ground-floor ceiling and cylindrical core form the base supporting the upper storey's exterior walls, with the core itself providing lateral stability. To eliminate thermal bridging, an insulated joint isolates the ceiling from the load-bearing outer walls.

Building in in-situ concrete fulfilled the clients' vision for a concrete residence, with exposed surfaces inside and out. All interior partitions and ceilings remain in raw concrete. The ground floor features a screeded surface; the upper level, timber flooring. The roof functions as a removable cap—a flat concrete plane with waterproof properties, further protected by liquid-applied membrane and structurally supported by the perimeter ring. A gas condensing boiler provides heating.

www.aufw.net

Living area: 180 m² + 26 m²
Plot size: 1,600 m²
Construction: 2016–2018
Structure: Reinforced concrete construction
Heating: Gas condensing boiler

Photography Credits:

Simon Menges
www.simonmenges.com

(Published in CUBE Berlin 04|21)