House P, Schnepfau (AT)

The longdrawn prism sheltered by a saddle roof blends in harmoniously with the loosely scattered buildings near the small village square with parsonage and church. Doing without basement facilities required the service rooms to be arranged on the ground floor that also accommodates an office, garage and a large roofed access. Essentially symmetrical in its characteristics, details of the face plan deviate from the rigid order. The anteroom, for example, is located below the central balcony, but is accessed laterally from the retracted “Schopf”.
In two half flights, the stairway leads from the anteroom, shoved in centrally, up to the residential floor where movements are curbed by the winter garden. Regularly set pairs of supports accentuate the center gangway running lengthwise. The sleeping area is divided into three rooms and a bathroom, while the residential area is open and stretches far under the roof. A centrally placed tiled stove heats this part.
In correspondence with the facades, the structure is symmetrical and follows the constructive grid. On the other hand, it is interpreted to be open at one time and closed at another, thus modifying the exact order. The overall character finds a specific harmony, the refined expression of which let the House become the topos of contemporary Vorarlberg wood architecture at the end of the 1980s.

Client: private
Location: A-6882 Schnepfau
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
Construction: 1988-1989

Awards
1997 Vorarlberger Holzbaupreis

Partner
photos: © G. Bassewitz