The villa by FFM-Architekten Tovar + Tovar demonstrates how to create a generous, open, and flowing space that seamlessly connects interior with exterior while providing a sense of security and individual retreat areas. Situated on Frankfurt's Riedberg, this villa adheres to the design guidelines of the "Villen hoch 3" handbook, employing additive architecture as its guiding principle. The project also had to meet additional requirements from HA Hessen Stadtentwicklungsgesellschaft, including a rectangular floor plan and integrated garages. Ancillary structures such as waste management areas and bicycle parking had to be architecturally integrated into the overall concept as well.

For their clients, the architects designed a two-story base cube with a second, single-story garage structure in exposed concrete and a third cube clad in panels on the ground floor, both carved into the primary volume. The light-colored base cube, which itself contains an open, non-built-over green atrium, is reduced on the south facade (main elevation) to a floating frame.

Materials and volumes define the identity of the three cubes: The base cube features a light-colored plaster finish and dominates the upper floor; the smaller dark cube is recessed on all sides with its non-glossy metal panel surfaces appearing in the upper floor only as inset planes. Half of the garage cube at the property boundary sits beneath the main structure and is constructed of exposed concrete. The composition of window surfaces and recessed planes adopts the color palette of the dark cube's facade elements, while the garage door echoes the formwork texture of the exposed concrete.

The living area and terrace interlace with the main structure, creating a unified design and functional whole. Facade recesses generate covered outdoor spaces for the terrace and entrance. A two-story atrium extending through the building—from which all areas of the house are accessed—connects these two outdoor zones. The ground floor, with its kitchen, dining, and living spaces, forms a large open spatial continuum that extends into the garden area, interrupted only by floor-to-ceiling glazing.

At the heart of the base cube is a nine-meter-high cubic exposed concrete element, around which an open staircase rises from the basement to the first upper floor. Functioning as an open spatial divider, it zones the building between entrance and living areas, creating both open and private retreat zones.

www.ffm-architekten.de

Living area: 389.55 m²
Site area: 663 m²
Construction period: 2018–2020
Construction method: Solid construction
Energy concept: District heating

Photography Credits:

FFM Architekten, Markus Raupach

(Featured in CUBE Frankfurt 03|22)