Located between the metropolitan regions of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Schwerin lies the Schaalsee UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, one of seventeen in Germany. Each represents significant German cultural landscapes and showcases the diversity of flora and fauna. Thanks to their attractive scenery, they are often popular vacation destinations and recreational areas. At 24 km² in size, the Schaalsee's remarkable diversity of wildlife and plant life is also historically rooted: during Germany's division, the inner-German border ran through the lake, allowing nature to develop largely undisturbed.

Nestled within this idyllic landscape, surrounded by towering maples and gentle hills, stands a double house on an 835 m² property—the Eulenburg. Studio Labs' concept translates regional building techniques and materials into a contemporary, pared-down architectural language. The form and proportions draw inspiration from a traditional barn that once stood on this site. In this way, the minimalist new construction acknowledges the village's original structure and integrates harmoniously. Through its open design and fluid transition between interior and exterior spaces, the building creates a sheltered retreat that feels both familiar and distinctly modern. Each unit features a generous open-plan living kitchen with fireplace and garden access on the ground floor, plus two bedrooms with bathrooms and a work area on the gallery level. The spatial concept is completed by a "shed" that serves as a sauna. The team placed particular emphasis on the building's orientation to respond to the specific qualities of the property: carefully positioned cuts to the north and south provide both visual screening and shading, creating both a sensitive dialogue between architecture and landscape as well as exceptional quality of space and privacy within the gardens. The facade combines regionally inspired rough plaster in the base with vertical wooden slats above, lending the house both structure and lightness. The warm tone of the wooden windows, doors, stairs, railings, and built-in cabinetry harmonizes with soft gray tones of flooring, walls, and kitchen, accented by the vibrant character of the earthy-red brick chimney—which extends to the roof ridge—and its glazed fireplace opening.

www.studiolabs.de

Photography:
Gunther Kleinert
www.gunterkleinert.de

(Published in CUBE Hamburg 02|25)