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A home in the forest

Single-family house in Schrems

Single-Family House in Schrems - Architect: Michael Nöbauer; Photos: Patricia Weisskirchner
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“I would move in myself anytime - the house has so many great spots. I am satisfied with every detail.”

- Architect Michael Nöbauer

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site plan
Architect: Michael Nöbauer

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.

To accommodate the client’s wish for a sloped roof, and still actively use the space right beneath it, Michael Nöbauer came up with the idea of making a gallery on the first floor. This design features a multi-functional space to display the client’s paintings, to be used as a library corner, or as provisional sleeping area for guests. A functional kitchen is tucked under the stair leading to the upper level. As the landlady does not cook regularly, yet needs enough space for dinners with friends, Michael Nöbauer came up with the idea of an additional counter top sliding out from beneath the stair. He also designed all built-in wooden benches, shelves and cupboards, carefully choosing every fitting.

Single-Family House in Schrems with VELUX roof windowsArchitect: Michael Nöbauer; Photos: Patricia Weisskirchner

Michael Nöbauer

Architect

VELUX does not only guarantee the best quality of products, but also provides tools for helping the clients understand the advantages of roof windows. Daylight Visualizer simulations allow to compare a room setting with or without roof window and to see the beauty of light coming in from above.

Single-Family House in Schrems with VELUX roof windows
Architect: Michael Nöbauer; Photos: Patricia Weisskirchner

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.

Graphic

Design: WITO Massivhaus- und Baugesellschaft mbH; Photos: Torben Eskerod
Single-Family House in Schrems with VELUX roof windows
Architect: Michael Nöbauer; Photos: Patricia Weisskirchner

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.

Project details

Project: Single family house
Location: Schrems, Austria 
Architect: Architekt DI Michael Nöbauer 
Year: 2019
Photos: Patrica Weisskirchner