Solar Box

All in all Mr. N should be a lucky man. He is the one who lives with his family in a nice private house built up in the turn of the last century and situated in a cute cottage likely area of the 19th district of Vienna.

However the about 80 years old house seemed narrow, the lighting conditions and the relationship between house and garden wasn’t very good. That meant to blow up on the one hand to win space and on the other to get more daylight.

In fact the building is situated on a long and narrow north orientated hill site. So it was decided to make the annex (with a big terrace on the front) on the south side, which means the garden side of the existing building.

The south facade of the old house was completely removed and the old building statically stabilized with a steel construction. In front of that opened skin the new 8x8x8 m cube was erected. This cube allows, because of its widely opened room, a view from the old building part throughout to the garden, the light problem was solved with big glass elements.

For the construction system a steel-wood-frame construction was chosen. The cube’s ground floor is one large spacious living room without columns or similar room cutting elements. At the second floor one room (the bedroom) with balcony is hanging in the cube. Another advantage is the new terrace on top of the box. With the new construction the building got more space and natural light. Now the sun can also reach rooms situated in the back and old part of the building.

In addition an atrium was created, another part of the harmonious relationship between old, new and nature.