In the village of Schrems, in the vicinity of a mud bath, stands a wooden house - its modest street facade, fitting in with the neighboring houses, does not reveal the complex spaces of the building behind it. The client, an elderly lady who returned to her home village in Austria after years of living abroad, wished for a place where she could enjoy her retirement.

Michael Nöbauer has worked with VELUX on previous projects and is well aware of the advantages of this collaboration. He often shows nearby houses he designed with roof windows to clients, opening and shutting the shades to prove his point that daylight considerably improves the room’s atmosphere.

For a more precise image of a project in planning, he turns to simulation tools provided by VELUX, pointing out that proof is a better argument in dialogue with clients than a mere exchange of opinions. He also discusses daylight distribution diagrams with technology-affine clients: they are always surprised by how dark average rooms are.

Roof windows allow for full privacy and provide an ever-changing play of sun in the rooms. Inside this house, one forgets the neighbouring buildings and focuses on the forest-like garden.

The building is located close to the street on the top of a sloped site. A broad stair connects the house with the garden and a path leading directly to the mud bath. All existing trees were kept. Respect for nature is a trademark of Nöbauer’s practice: not only were the trees and sloping terrain kept untouched, but the materials used for construction came from the vicinity. The granite blocks used for the front yard and the countertop of the kitchen came from a nearby stone quarry and all wooden elements, including the larch shingles used for the façade, were provided by local carpentries working with wood from the region.