In a new development in the northern Ruhr area, a remarkable and spacious detached house was built, designed to offer the owners plenty of privacy without completely isolating them from their surroundings. Nestled between typical detached houses and an apartment building to the east, the linear design of the new building, designed by Vickers Architects, really stands out.

To divide the property, a two-storey cube was planned in a north-south direction. The special feature of the design is the staggered, protruding parts of the building on the ground floor, which house a garage at the front and provide space for the kitchen and dining area at the rear. The entrance area at the front is also separated by an additional single garage positioned perpendicular to the house, creating a enclosed forecourt that marks the transition from the public to the private area. At the rear, the protruding cube shields the building from the adjacent apartment block, creating a secluded terrace where residents can enjoy the outdoors during the warmer months.

The façade design also follows the principle of a gentle transition from the public street space to the private residential building and determines the relationship between closed and open areas: the east and west side façades, both of which run parallel to the neighbouring buildings, are almost completely closed, while the façade facing the garden opens up to reveal a large area. This not only ensures that as much daylight as possible enters the kitchen, dining and living areas, but also creates a flowing transition between the interior and exterior spaces. The façade facing the street is hardly open at all on the ground floor; only on the upper floor does a façade-wide window front provide natural daylight inside.

The colour scheme chosen for the design is based on muted, rather dark tones. In keeping with this, the dark bricks in shades of red, grey and brown harmonise with the simple anthracite of the aluminium window profiles, the garage door and the drainage pipe in the façade design. The colour scheme is also reflected in the interior: simple, modern anthracite tiles are used throughout the interior as floor tiles and determine the colour choice in the bathroom as wall and floor tiles.

www.vickersarchitekten.de

(Published in CUBE Ruhrgebiet 01|20)