A mature stand of tall trees provided the inspiring starting point for a spacious family home designed for a residential neighborhood in Junkersdorf. The clients—a five-member family—envisioned a house filled with natural light and visual connections to a generous garden, flexible spaces for their growing children, private retreats for the parents, and ample storage throughout, especially in the kitchen. Klara Architekten from Cologne, entrusted with both the design and execution, proposed a two-story solitaire with a recessed upper floor. The design distinguishes itself through its innovative spatial organization and sustainable timber frame construction.

The elongated building structure sits centrally on the plot, nestled between a front garden facing the street and a smaller rear garden with the existing tree stand. The open floor plan of the ground-floor living area is oriented in both directions—west and east. The expansive floor-to-ceiling window fronts provide consistent natural light independent of the time of day. A strategic setback in the street-facing glass facade defines the entry zone—accessed from the building's side and featuring a wardrobe, guest toilet, guest bedroom access, and garage—creating separation from the living area, which opens onto a covered terrace. The house's central core comprises a single-run staircase and a kitchen thoughtfully staged at the room's heart. A generous double-height atrium with skylights above ensures abundant, seasonally variable daylight while serving as a vital communicative link between floors. The expansive living, dining, and cooking zone is further distinguished by a single-story glass pavilion that juts from the building envelope, creating an intimate garden room with verdant views. Adjoining the minimalist kitchen is a practical "back-of-house" kitchen—an out-of-sight workspace for storing everything that shouldn't be on display. The upper floor is accessed via a corridor lit by multiple skylights. On one side, the master bedroom with ensuite bath and dressing room faces the morning sun, while a generously proportioned loggia—around which three children's bedrooms and a bathroom are arranged—captures afternoon light and views toward the street. Each child's room is designed as a loft with double-height volume: a spiral staircase ascends to a sleeping platform, itself abundantly lit by expansive, floor-to-ceiling windows.

The exterior reflects the home's transparent character through expansive window surfaces complemented by solid wood cladding. Vertical larch wood slatting is articulated by horizontal sections that provide floor-by-floor definition. Finished in a dark pre-weathered tone, the cladding resists soiling from the adjacent tree canopy. The planed, pre-weathered wood—with its fine micro-grooved surface texture—will gradually lighten over time before settling into an elegant silver-gray patina. Internally, custom-built cabinetry is integrated throughout—not only in the kitchen but in every room—including a bathtub nestled into an intimate nook within the dressing room. Interior doors align seamlessly with timber wall cladding, effectively disappearing into the surface. Energetically, the house is equipped with a heat pump that functions in cooling mode during warmer months. Yet the combination of passive shading and natural ventilation alone ensures comfortable indoor conditions within this timber structure, which features cellulose blown-in insulation.

www.klara-architekten.de

Photography Credits:

Matthias Thorner
Guido Schiefer
www.guidoschiefer.de

(Published in CUBE Cologne Bonn 03|23)