The client had actually already purchased a building plot in a different location. Quite by chance, a bike ride took him past a plot of land that was being cleared of garden vegetation in preparation for sale: The 2,500 m² property had an old bungalow from the 1960s in the middle of it – a real treasure in the midst of increasingly shrinking urban garden spaces! The decision to purchase the property was made quickly. However, the client, a mechanical engineer and managing director of an industry company, did not want to entrust the design to anyone else. He had already demonstrated his passion for planning down to the smallest design details in previous residential projects. He once again took on the role of design architect for this house – an architect ultimately helped with the approval plans.

In order to preserve the existing structure of the house, the former bungalow, which could not be preserved in its core substance, was demolished down to the basement walls. The new building is based on the external cubature of its predecessor: even though a gabled roof storey would have been possible on the property in accordance with Section 34 of the German Building Code (BauGB), the single-storey design was retained. Only the roof, designed to provide protection from the weather and sun, differs from the previous structure in its 1.50 m overhang. The house is discreetly set back from the street, with the actual entrance discreetly hidden at the rear of the property. It is only revealed under a light-flooded oculus. This opens up a first picturesque view through the building into the rear garden. With 255 m² of living space, the house occupies only about one tenth of the total plot – the majority is taken up by the various elaborately and differently designed garden areas. In order to bring the changing natural backdrop of the day and seasons into the rooms, the outer shell of the building was designed to be as transparent as possible – with floor-to-ceiling, almost frameless window elements from the Swiss manufacturer Sky-Frame. Inside, floor-to-ceiling transparent lattice doors connect the rooms, creating exciting views between the different spaces. The closed areas of the façade were to be kept high-quality and natural – accordingly, they were clad with natural slate slabs and the roof overhang was given a wooden cladding.

The house's restraint towards the street is countered inside by the symmetrically arranged visual connection that results from its central position in the spacious living area. To the north-west, a transparent, large-format sliding window front opens up around a natural stone basin – an almost pictorial composition with an old Japanese girl pine tree trained as a bonsai as the central focal point. This flowing continuum of interior and exterior space is illuminated by a central skylight, which creates a spectacle of light with multifaceted reflections depending on the season and the position of the sun. The bedroom on the garden side is also fortunate: located on one side of the atrium, it benefits from the special spatial situation. The exterior garden backdrop is contrasted in the interior by decorative large-format motif wallpaper on the walls. Based on the client's individual designs, they were manufactured in Italy and Great Britain – the fact that there were no nasty surprises when it came to wallpapering is thanks to the very high level of pre-planning for the house. The result is a true refuge that maintains a unique balance between house and garden. Every day, the client can enjoy an oasis of relaxation and deceleration. He is happy to accept the regular gardening work that this entails.

(Published in CUBE Düsseldorf 02|22)