Planning and Construction Management, Interior Design: fabi architekten bda
Collaboration: Petra Beer
Statics: Orthuber and Partner, Regensburg
Energy Standard: KfW 40 Plus and passive house standard according to PHPP
Building Services: Modulated air-water heat pump 3-10 kW, buffer storage 1 cbm, PV System with battery storage system (storage capacity 10 kWh)
Wood-burning stove with boiler attachment (heat dissipation in buffer storage), rated output 12 kW
Controlled living space ventilation with air-earth heat exchanger for pre-tempering and heat recovery
Planning Period LPH1-4: November 2015 – November 2016
Planning Period LPH 5: March 2017 – October 2017
Construction Period: November 2017 – April 2019
Living Space: 214.00 sqm
Land Area: 992.00 sqm

Home's rear facade showcasing a concrete patio with sliding glass doors. — Home’s rear facade showcasing a concrete patio with sliding glass doors.

The concrete fence and gate provide privacy to the home.

Home's front façade with a gently sloping gable roof and a sleek entrance crowned with a concrete awning. — Home’s front façade with a gently sloping gable roof and a sleek entrance crowned with a concrete awning.

A closer look at the home's gray exterior. — A closer look at the home’s gray exterior.

The home's raw finishes continue inside. It is softened by oak wood surfaces that bring warmth and a cozy feel. — The home’s raw finishes continue inside. It is softened by oak wood surfaces that bring warmth and a cozy feel.

The oak wood elements are echoed on the built-in cabinets.

The kitchen features lots of storage and adequate counter space including a cooktop island.

The kitchen opens completely to the dining area and living room.

A large pillar fitted with a double-sided fireplace separates the eat-in kitchen and living room.

Oversized sliding glass doors in the open living space blur the line between indoor and outdoor living.

Glass railings frame the balcony on the second level.

Panoramic windows brighten the second-level loft as it takes in spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.

This bedroom features a concrete headboard which adds playful contrast to the wooden furnishing and hardwood flooring.

A skylight brings natural light into the bathroom.

Single-flight staircase with concrete treads and risers.

Side view of the house showcasing its panoramic windows and sloped exterior.

Impressive, yet not obtrusive, unpretentious in the large form, yet designed down to the smallest detail – the often proven characteristics of the concepts by fabi architekten also apply to this house for a family of five. To the south of Regensburg, the two-storey design had to be integrated into a newly created housing estate. A no-frills structure with a gently sloping gable roof was created in shades of gray and concrete that are as subtle as they are striking.

Strips of windows cut deep into the facade emphasize the horizontal, their heterogeneous formats bring further dynamics into play. The stringent lines are taken to extremes by the slender visible edge of the floating patio roof made of fair-faced concrete that reaches around the corner. The grand gesture is complemented subtly and filigreely by the horizontally oriented broom structure of the facade plaster.

Inside, the facade design finds its natural consequence in panoramic views, the trimming of which emphasizes the width again. Vertically aligned accents create a harmonious balance, sometimes monolithic in the case of the fireplace, sometimes delicate in the concise grain of the smoked oak wood surfaces of several built-in furniture.

The rooms themselves also take up the contrasting play of lines: the living-dining room with kitchen island, which extends across the entire width of the house, stands for the horizontal as well as the single-flight staircase, which is closed on both sides. A narrow air space in the center of the house that extends below the ridge forms the vertical counterpoint.

On the ground floor, the entrance and the various areas of the living room meander continuously and openly around inserted cubes that house ancillary rooms and the fireplace. This also includes a fully-fledged bathroom and a potential bedroom with the office – so all the important living spaces are available on the entrance level if required.

One floor above is the bright access zone at an angle around the master bedroom with bathroom. The three children’s rooms, which also have their own bathroom, were lined up on the western gable end.

The calm, harmonious choice of materials, none of which are the result of a fleeting fashion, also fits perfectly into the picture. They also play with contrasts, in this case light and dark, warm and cool, natural and industrial: a light natural stone floor on the ground floor faces a ceiling made of prefabricated exposed concrete parts, smooth white walls, dark wooden fittings and floorboards on the upper floor.

The interior spaces are supplemented by a garden courtyard enclosed on three sides with a terrace and water basin. In this way, the double garage and a fair-faced concrete wall leading to the house shield the garden from the street – here, too, the design was thought through to the last detail.