A boat? A barn? A visitor from another world? The Wustrow house sits on Lake Plätlin in the heart of Mecklenburg's lake district, its true nature deliberately concealed. Walk around it, and the structure reveals itself anew from every angle. Set within a small community of roughly 20 holiday homes along the shoreline—part of the municipality of Wustrow—this residence challenges our assumptions about form and function.

Architects Wanja Wechselberger (WWStudio) and Florian Kneer (Legeer Architekten) have crafted an extraordinarily unconventional holiday home—one whose geometry resists easy categorization. Its boat-like, diamond-shaped form echoes the boathouses and barges that naturally inhabit this lakeside landscape. The volume expands at its core, establishing both the widest and tallest point, while the narrow north-south-facing ends remain largely open. Across three levels, the 92 m² of living and usable space is ingeniously organized: the ground floor opens to a kitchen, dining area, and double-height atrium-like living space. A gentle ramp ascends to the upper level, where a bathroom with adjoining sauna and storage room reside. The top floor houses a patio-style balcony and bedroom, with glazing that draws daylight deep into the rooms below. Birch wood lines every interior surface, its pale tone and texture creating a warm, inviting environment. At the northeast end, a generous window and seating nook frame views toward the water; on fine days, the interior extends seamlessly to an outdoor terrace. The timber-frame structure employs prefabricated wooden wall components, while its ventilated façade—crafted from glazed anthracite spruce—catches the light with a silvery gleam that harmonizes beautifully with the dark grey concrete roof tiles. The clapboard runs parallel to the eaves, angling diagonally across the floor plane to amplify the visual dynamism. Oriented with its narrow end toward the lake, the house unmistakably suggests a hull cutting through water. What emerges is far more than clever geometric play: it's a thoughtfully composed, vertically stacked interior that accommodates both shared living and private retreat—a sanctuary equally suited to gathering and solitude.

www.wanjawechselberger.com
www.legeer.de

Photography Credits:

Andreas Labes
www.andreas-labes.de

(Published in CUBE Berlin 03|22)