LocationAustria
Roof typePitched roof
Project typeLiving
Room typeCarbon neutral house
"The roof windows are crucial for natural ventilation. It's enough to open them together with the terrace doors on the lower level for the warm, stale air to go up. It's just the good old chimney effect. The lower side of the house is in the ground, it does not heat up much, so while airing the cold air is sucked up to the upper floors."
- Juri Troy, architect
Modern, healthy apartments in city blocks
The history of the house is an interesting one - hit by a bomb during WW2, was rebuild with lower unsymmetrical new roof, not fitting the clear roofline of the neighbors. In 2008 a need for renovation of the old substance inspired the father and son duo to turn the student research into a project. A new, symmetrical roof was planned to match the gables left and right, which also - by introducing a longitudinal glazing along all facade - gave the possibility of raising the ceiling in the apartments below.
Martin Strobl Jr. being an architect and investor at the same time was a blessing to this project. Full freedom to experiment and implement new ideas resulted in a harmonious, beautiful project showing solutions for a common problem: how to create more apartments in city blocks from the nineteenth century - widespread in all Europe - and design them as modern, healthy living spaces.
Daylight from all possible sides
The challenges in this project were the same as in Mr. Troy's earlier work. He had to find solutions for a steep plot, where terrain should not be altered, while access from the street had to be provided, and deal with strict regulations on volume and form of the future house.
The answer to those complex requirements turned out to be a simple volume with symmetrical roof, opening to the landscape on each level, catching daylight from all possible sides - roof included.
The outer appearance is homogenous, with walls cladded in white fir and roof in cedar shingles. The openings reveal the massive insulation, necessary for achieving a good energy balance.
When the outside temperatures drop below 14 degrees the house, due to its Minergie P standard, has to rely on mechanical exchange of fresh air with heat recovery. In the warm season it is naturally ventilated.
"Both me and the client were interested in the topic of optimal use of daylight."
- Juri Troy, architect
An open space, yet it's offering diverse cozy corners
The house is accessed from the street through a long staircase, starting in the garage. The kids' rooms are on the first floor and on the second a large living room provides views to all sides. It's an open space, yet it's offering diverse cozy corners.
Although modest and straightforward, this house features some tiny everyday-life luxuries, like an outdoor kitchen or the worldwide first pizza oven with passive house certificate.
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Diffused northern light creates a nice contrast
The upper floor - dedicated entirely to the adults - features a large bedroom, a bathroom with sauna, guest- and working room. All roof windows, oriented towards north, provide smooth daylight and fresh air to the rooms beneath. This was possible thanks to a smart trick of the architect: he invented deep shafts, connecting the guest room to the openings on the opposite roof pitch. Diffused northern light creates a nice contrast with working area, bathed in midday sun rays.