House on Steinberg

Year
2012
Status
Built
Program
Single family house
Location
Oberberg, Austria
Team
Martin Emmerer, Clemens Luser, Hansjörg Luser, Lukas Negenborn

Paarhof


"In a Paarhof, in contrast to a Einhof, the dwelling house and the farm building are two separate buildings. This type of construction is particularly suitable for hillside locations where there is no space for overhanging single courtyards. To keep distances short, the buildings are as close together as possible. In the typical case, the complex consists of two buildings, as similar as possible in external appearance, arranged in parallel."

Haus on Steinberg is the transformation of a traditional wine cellar used for agricultural purposes in the fruit and wine-growing area into contemporary architecture. The historical wooden building with a gabled roof stands on a site which is dedicated as open land. According to regional planning regulations it is possible to extend the floor space to twice that of the original.

The old building is to be preserved and transformed into the ideal arrangement of a Paarhof with separate residential and farm buildings. For this purpose a self-contained structure will be built opposite the wine cellar on the west side. The arrangement thus created will comprise two two-storey buildings with parallel roof ridges which are related with regard to form and materials. Both buildings become one functional unit via a cubic glass living room situated between them. This connecting element also serves as the main entrance to the building.
The traditional basement floor of the old building does not exist in the new building. In this way, the view from the old vine arbour on the west side of the existing building of the hilly countryside is preserved. The west side of the new building opens up in a wedge-like shape as the length of the roofs has been shortened and the wooden façade is broken up by the generous glass surfaces. In this way the new building is aligned with its older relative and simultaneously opens up towards the landscape.