House SCH, Bregenz (AT)

In the north-east of Bregenz, a black-painted timber prism juts out from a steep southern slope, towards the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley. What at first glance appears to be a freely formed sculpture is actually the result of an economic calculation. Built on an extremely steep piece of land with an area of only 450m², we designed this single family home to best fit the constraints of the site. While a concrete core ties the house to the hill and contains all service rooms, a more open wooden structure was chosen for the living area and bedrooms. The form of the home allows for the focal point of all the interior spaces to be the forests below.

On the top level, the entrance and the garage are situated, including the garden room. The rooms of the living area are layered according to their privacy: on the upper floor, the kitchen, dining and living rooms are located; the level below contains work, guest, dressing and bedrooms with the assigned sanitary facilities. The interior finishes reflect the structural division – exposed concrete walls and polished screed are seen in the concrete part of the building, while the paneling and floorboards in the wooden structure are made of wire-brushed silver fir.

The living area has a room height of almost five meters at its highest point and tapers conically towards the view. Similar to a bellows camera, the view is directed through the fully glazed south wall across the loggia into the valley. The metaphorical association with a camera is revealed in several ways: in the precision of configuration, materialization, and execution as well as in the focus on the qualities of the location, the surrounding nature, and the beautiful view into the landscape.

Client: privat
Location: A-6900 Bregenz
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
Project management: Susanne Gaudl
Construction: 2014-2015
Area: 169 m²

Partner
structural engineering concrete: Mader & Flatz, Bregenz / structural engineering timber: Merz Kley Partner, Dornbirn / HVAC: Langer, Wolfurt / electronics: Kremmel & Schneider, Lustenau / building physics: Weithas, Lauterach /// photos: © Bruno Klomfar