A site in one of Germany’s villages near Bremen is located in the vicinity of a forest, but due to cyclical sporting events nearby, the quiet area turns into a place full of casual visitors. The architects wanted to avoid a fence to limit interference with the character of the site while preserving the natural wildlife migration. The design challenge was to keep the site open on a daily basis, but with the possibility of temporary closure when needed.
Project Name: Open House in Germany
Studio Name: KWK Promes
The investor from Bremen was not unfamiliar with Robert Konieczny’s previous mobile projects, so he eagerly agreed to the proposal to apply a kinetic solution to his future dream house.
The starting point for the KWK Promes design team was the observation of surrounding buildings with characteristic shutters, but also Konieczny’s experience from the Ark, around which he did not make a fence. In Open House, rather than directly obscuring the large windows accumulated on one wall, the shutters were moved away from the volume, creating an unusual atrium which, when opened, becomes a fragment of the surrounding meadow. The movable, two-part structure on rails with a circular plan has the ability to close and open according to the needs of the residents, independently of each other and in different configurations.
This solution can be used for many purposes: it will create an intimate and private zone during increased traffic in the area during sporting events, and will additionally enable the space in front of the house to be protected from wild inhabitants of the neighboring forest who visit nearby farms. The movable walls that form the temporary fence are intended to help keep all users of the area – humans and animals – comfortable.
The house has been designed with a two-person family in mind. The property, which is already under construction, will have approximately 250 m2 of floor space, including the garage. Inside, there will be two bedrooms, a spacious living room with mezzanine and a kitchen. The interior space of a house can also include its terrace, which, thanks to movable walls, can at any time go from being open to public view to being part of a private zone. In this context, the sliding walls are not so much a fence, but rather an element of architecture that stretches its boundaries.
The building’s reed roof and whitewashed walls relate to the traditional architecture of the area. Windows located on the south side of the building have been placed under the roofline to reduce the time of excessive heat build-up, which will significantly reduce the energy costs of this project. The roof structure, fitted with special slots at the top of the roof, makes the whole house act as a chimney, supporting gravity ventilation. The electricity needed to power the house and the sliding wall mechanism will come from photovoltaic panels, further emphasising the energy independence and eco-friendliness of the investment.
Construction work began in June, and the Open House is to be commissioned next year.
