Client: private
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architekten
Project management: Felix Kruck
Construction time: 2018-2019
Area: 220 m²
Construction management partner: Baukultur, Schwarzenberg
Wood statics: Merz Kley Partner, Dornbirn
Concrete statics: Mader Flatz, Bregenz
Wood construction: Kaufmann carpentry, Reuthe
Heating, sanitary: Heizfink, Sulzberg
Electrics: Schneider, Schwarzenberg
Interior work: Kaufmann carpentry, Reuthe
Cabinet maker: Schmidinger Möbelbau, Schwarzenberg
Photos: © Albrecht I. Schnabel
In the far north of the Bregenz Forest, the small community of Sulzberg lies on the back of the mountain of the same name. We have built a house on a steep slope in the middle of a densely built-up housing estate, which makes perfect use of the tightly dimensioned property. Due to the extreme hillside location, we have divided the rooms over three floors.
You enter the house on the street side on the top level via a wide walkway. The garage, a small guest room, and the spacious, open living room are located here. Designed with maximum transparency and openness, it is only structured by the free-standing kitchen block.
The entire southern front is glazed and, together with the terrace in front, celebrates the fantastic view over the Bregenzerwald to the high Vorarlberg mountains.
A cantilevered wooden staircase leads down to the private rooms. The bedroom, dressing room, bathroom, and sauna are completely clad in silver fir-like elegant wooden caskets. In front of this floor, the large glazing and the terrace on the south side invite you to enjoy the distant view.
A granny flat and an office are located in the basement. From this level, you enter a covered garden terrace at ground level.
The successful interplay of the materials wood, glass, and concrete gives the cubic structure lightness and transparency. Rather closed on the street side, the house opens to the south with floor-to-ceiling glazing and focuses the view over the neighboring houses below on the unique view. Slidable wooden slats on the side fronts ensure privacy and protection from the sun.
The two lower floors are made of exposed concrete in rough board formwork, the roof is made of wood. Vertical white fir strips alternating with the horizontal board cladding of the ceiling panels structure the facade and emphasize the strictly geometric, disc-like structure of the house.
Wood and exposed concrete also dominate the inside and create a modern and at the same time homely atmosphere with their clear design language. Furniture made of silver fir and the floor made of rough-sawn oak contrast with black elements such as the kitchen block made of nanotech panels or the bathroom floor. What is striking is the well-thought-out stairway, which, with a glass staircase, forms a line of sight through all three floors.
With House K, we have succeeded in densifying, which enables spacious living with privacy and an unobstructed view on a narrow hillside plot in the middle of the settlement area.
