Architect(s): Gohm Hiessberger Architekten
Address: Gemeindegutstraße 27, FELDKIRCH, Austria
Latitude/Longitude: 47.259302,9.570510
Photographs: Bruno Klomfar
Nofels is a faction of the city of Feldkirch, a spatially independent district with a village layout in relation to the core. The terrain is flat, the nearby horizon is formed by forest and the Feldkirch city mountains, the distant horizon is the excellent mountain panorama on both sides of the Rhine Valley. The parallelogram-shaped plot of land is located in a still patchy, open settlement area; the house was structured and positioned using a grid with a width of 5.5 meters. A rectangular swimming pond and a trapezoidal forecourt tie the house to the property boundaries.
The garage is on the street side; the open garage door serves as a privacy screen towards the swimming pond. The house does not have a basement, but in addition to the garage there is a large storage room with technical equipment. The entrance is on the north facade, protected from the weather by an angular projection. Kitchen and living are united on the angular ground floor, which is combined with the upper level via an air space. The stairs and the bridge between the children’s and parents’ area are made of steel.
The facades and the wall between the living room and the garage are made of exposed concrete, with internal insulation and plasterboard facing. The windows are made of aluminum. The floors on the ground floor as sanded screed, on the upper floor as oiled parquet. Textile outer curtains contrast the extraordinary hardness of the building. Feldkirch’s outskirts of the town made a sharp architectural announcement for the majority of average architectural goods.
Material used
A 5.50m grid was laid over the entire property, from which the building with the incised terrace and the geometric swimming pond was developed. On the ground floor there is a double garage with sliding gate on the street side, which offers an open screen to the swimming pond, as well as a large storage room with heating and technology – a basement has been deliberately avoided. You can enter the house on the north side via a covered access.
There is an open kitchen, a guest toilet, the dining area and the two-story living room with the covered terrace (wooden deck). To the south is the upstream water surface, which is terminated by a wall panel along the property boundary. A steel staircase leads to the upper floor with the two children’s rooms, a half-open study, shower/toilet and bathroom. The bathtub is flush with the floor above the guest toilet and a slit in the wall to the air space allows a view of the outside. The dressing room and the master bedroom are accessed via a steel bridge along the airspace.
The outer shell and the two-storey wall on the living room side are made of exposed concrete (3x1m formwork panels), with internal insulation and plasterboard facing), the aluminum windows are equipped with sliding sashes or partially fixed-glazed, the north-facing window strips are equipped with swing sashes. The entire ground floor is finished with a sanded screed, the upper floor with an oiled Irokoparkett. External blinds made of awning fabric serve as sun protection.
Text description provided by the architects.
Enclosed space: 806m³
Gross floor area: 352m²
Net area: 174m²
Contributed by Gohm Hiessberger Architekten
