Project Description
An empty gap between buildings in district Pankow of Berlin right next to the famous quarter Prenzlauer Berg a single family house was to be built. The clients asked for enough space to house their little familiy of 3 with a great deal of books, a number of frequent guests, a full-scale sanctum and not at last a garden with vegetables, flowers and trees. The lot – rather unusually big for this type of buildung – is located in the neighborhood of typical berlin 4 storey closed coverage type housing in two rows parallel. In former times the estate was part of a nursery and already developted with a single-family house, which became ruinous over the time and had to be demolished. brandt+simon placed the new house deep into the lot and attached it to the fire-protecting wall of the neighbouring second row building. Thus the gap in the front row can be filled at a later date.
The untypical facade of coloured plain tiles makes this house a peculiar new member of the urban fabric. Simultaneously the hasty passerby will not neccessarily take notice of the greenish structure blending with plants and trees deep in the gap between neighbouring buildings.
The huge number of plain tiles and the chosen range of colour lead to an interplay between the very traditional building material in its almost handmade haptic quality and the pixel-like apearance of the whole facade from a distance. The colour gradiant is laid out as a repeating pattern and is planed into great detail. It recalls the former nursery on the estate and also interprets the clients brief to built a „garden house“.
While using the plain tiles for the whole facade a massive and durable solution was found, which beside its design potential provides a technically perfect coverage for the timber frame construction behind.
To complete the overall „green thought“ of the building cellulose (recycled paper) has been used exclusivly for thermal insulation and heating is substantially supported by passive solar energy panels.