House in Nuremberg

Behind the peripheral developments around a civic park in Nuremberg, the architect erected a new house for his family. Situated on land formerly occupied by a metalworking shop, the structure takes up roughly a third of the 450 m2 site. The development is enclosed on three sides by firewalls, with the basement extending over the full area within them. On the long west face, the house is set back three metres from the free-standing firewall to allow adequate daylighting. Clad with preoxidized-steel sheeting, the wall rises almost to the full height of the building. Where it forms a backing to a sculpture, the wall is rendered. The refuse containers are clad in larch. On the ground floor, the main rooms are oriented to the open space between the facade and the firewall. The kitchen and library on the upper floor receive daylight from an intimate atrium. Sunshading here is provided by a horizontally extendible screen of aluminium louvres. The solid structure, consisting of insulated sandlime brickwork, is enclosed in a layer of earth-coloured mineral rendering with a horizontal, hand-drawn brush finish, a texture that results in a lively interplay of light and shade.