Residence in Bielefeld-Brackwede, 2014

This residential property is being designed for a married couple. It comprises a number of distinct structures and has been scaled to make its different parts blend seamlessly into the surrounding urban environment while making the site's topography work to its advantage. The property's main part features a gabled roof to mirror the roofs typical of the buildings in its immediate neighbourhood, while its overall architecture make it clearly stand out as a building of its time. On the main part, this is being achieved by the use of concrete as the material for the external walls and roof, and by creating a rich contrast by cladding the entire basement level in quarry stone.

On the inside, the interplay between the internal structures and spaces creates the sense of a fluid and liberal continuum of space. The property's different storeys are furthermore interconnect by open spaces and mezzanines. The large windows act to fuse the interior with the exterior and look out onto attractive views, in particular on the garden side. Most of the ground floor walls comprise glazed folding doors, which means that much of this area can be opened up to access the roofed patio at the back of the house. The front of the property is much less open and comprises an alternating array of transparent and closed surfaces. The top floor's perforated concrete surfaces, which conceal large windows, introduce an element of uniformity and act both to screen the interior from the outside and the sun.