House M

The residence is located in a long-standing residential area, mainly comprising detached houses, outside Bielefeld. The decision was made to use the traditional regional architecture as a point of orientation for the exterior of the house. The barns that are popular for agricultural use in this rural region were chosen as a particular reference for the formal design of the house. In line with the simple, unpretentious architecture of the barns the residence was designed as a lengthened, rectangular structure with a double-pitched roof without overhang. The masonry facades on three sides in quarry stone also refer to the traditional architecture in rural regions.

Although the house includes formal references to regional traditions the character of its interior is consistently modern. The open layout allows the rooms to flow into one another. The complete glazing of the side of the building shell that faces the garden, allows the inside to melt into the outside. Numerous built in storage elements, benches and storage rooms provide sufficient storage inside the house. Books are also gathered in one place in a specially fitted library on the ground floor of the house.

Reduction to only a few materials and colours – Italian sandstone for the floor, white plaster for walls and ceilings, oiled oak for the benches and glass and grey aluminium for the windows – gives the rooms a soothing calmness. With the support of a minimum of furnishings the architecture develops an ascetic austerity.