Client: Private
Location: A-6900 Dornbirn
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
Project management: Martina Simoncini
Construction time: 2019-20
Area: 195 m² + basement (approx. 70 m²)
Capacity: Single-family house
Award: Archello’s Best Projects 2020
Partner
Statics: ZTE Eric Leitner, Oberboden
Building services: Engel, Dornbirn
Electrical: Pro Strom, Lauterach
Building physics: Meusburger, Schwarzenberg
Construction management: Flatz & Jäger, Bezau
Master builder: Burtscher Bau, Bregenz
Timber construction: Greber, Bezau
Photos: Albrecht I. Schnabel
The house from the 1960s no longer met contemporary requirements, neither visually, nor ecologically, nor in terms of the room layout. A conversion would not have been profitable, so we decided to demolish the house down to the basement and build a new, two-story wooden building on it.
The volume and floor space of the new building is based on the old one. The small setback of the south facade also follows the trail of the old house. The basement that has been preserved serves as a base and offers space for a bicycle, storage, and technical rooms.
The new house is designed as a light wooden structure with a spacious living, kitchen and dining room, office and guest bathroom on the ground floor; Children’s rooms and master bedroom with bathroom and dressing room on the upper floor.
The small window openings in the silver fir façade, which are oriented towards the neighboring houses, only frame specific views. The building opens up generously towards the south and the garden: floor-to-ceiling sliding doors on the raised ground floor extend the living space to the outside, with direct access to the terrace and exposed concrete pool. Above that, a continuous balcony with a wooden balustrade offers privacy and security to the bedrooms and children’s rooms, which are also glazed to the ceiling.
The materialization of the house, characterized by wood, concrete and black steel, is reflected in the interior. The result is a harmonious overall design, an urban retreat for the whole family.