The contrast between times, scales, and materials. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
12/11/2020.
[Caan - Rhineland-Palatinate] Germany
metalocus, JULIO RODRÍGUEZ
metalocus, JULIO RODRÍGUEZ
Heltwerk Architekten has designed Haus WW where it was previously a late 19th-century farmhouse in the small town of 700 inhabitants of Caan, in the Westerwald, in western Germany between Frankfurt and Cologne.
An attempt was made to respect the original house as much as possible where the intervention will be integrated and will try to dialogue with the pre-existing. The project works on an area that was demolished in the 1950s and replaced by a volume of wood. The new proposal of the studio will also work with wood that will form a strong contrast with the stone materiality of the original house.
An attempt was made to respect the original house as much as possible where the intervention will be integrated and will try to dialogue with the pre-existing. The project works on an area that was demolished in the 1950s and replaced by a volume of wood. The new proposal of the studio will also work with wood that will form a strong contrast with the stone materiality of the original house.
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten. Photograph by Fiona Körner
Site plan. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
Ground floor plan. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
First floor plan. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
Elevation north. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
Elevation south. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
Longitudinal section. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
Cross section. Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten
The Haus WW by Heltwerk Architekten tries to unite and connect two volumes that were previously separated, leaving three volumes differentiated by their scale and materials used that allow differentiating the program and the different uses that the house will have.
The contrast is also made with materiality, wood versus stone. The added volume that joins the two pieces of the pre-existing house does not function as a corridor but as a served space that complements and invites users to gather around this place. In this place are the kitchen and dining room, where the light hits with greater force due to the permeability to have larger gaps that allow that transparency than the original house.
The contrast is also made with materiality, wood versus stone. The added volume that joins the two pieces of the pre-existing house does not function as a corridor but as a served space that complements and invites users to gather around this place. In this place are the kitchen and dining room, where the light hits with greater force due to the permeability to have larger gaps that allow that transparency than the original house.
Description of project by Heltwerk Architekten
Caan is a town of 700 inhabitants in the Westerwald, between Frankfurt and Cologne. In the old town there are still some farms from the end of the 19th century, with their houses and haystacks made of volcanic stone. One of them is the starting point for the WW house project. The character of the original house had to be respected when adapting it to the 21st century, and the intervention was carried out under strict criteria of heritage conservation, using above all materials with low environmental impact.
A construction embedded in the 50s between the house and the barn was demolished to replace it with a new wooden volume, which will now serve as a hinge between them. To give the new element its own character and at the same time consistent with the whole, it was designed with a simple geometry similar to that of its companions. Its slightly advanced position on both highlights the uniqueness of the new volume and allows the trio to present a concert of typology, scale and color spectrum.
The structure of the added volume and its façade were built with wood, and this was covered on all its visible faces with slats of untreated larch wood. This envelope gives the intermediate building an abstract and smooth character that contrasts with the rough masonry of its companions. While the stone house was fitted out with the least possible impact on its character and with a minimum of technique, the wooden body was built following advanced technical standards, up to the level of passive construction.
The project dedicates the old house to the most private family spaces, while concentrating in the new wooden volume the collective space of the kitchen and living room. This is a contemporary interpretation of the traditional home or Stube, with large openings to the south that allow you to enjoy the garden and the adjacent forest. In the cold winter months they take advantage of solar radiation for the home and in summer they protect it from it by means of sliding doors.
More information
Architects
Design team
Henrike Elsner, Lucas Fernández-Trapa.
Dates
2020.
Location
Caan, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Photography
Fiona Körner.
Heltwerk Architekten
Heltwerk Architekten is an architecture studio directed by Henrike Elsner and Lucas Fernández-Trapa Chías. The two partners met in the Herzog & De Meuron studio in Basel, and after a few years working in London, Rotterdam, Augsburg, and Cologne they settled in a rural area of the Westerwald, where they live and work on a converted old farm.
Heltwerk Architekten works with simple elements and geometries, they like to observe the existing material and imagine how to intervene without altering its character. They try to understand what constructions are, and then they develop ideas according to what they should be. They understand that the essence of the spaces is perceptible and creates a specific atmosphere; architecture must be at the service of the men and women who inhabit it. They love making models and the smell of freshly sawn wood.
Henrike Elsner is an interior architect from FH Mainz and has worked in prestigious international studios, including Herzog & de Meuron (Basel) and OMA (Rotterdam). She is the winner of the Rhineland Palatinate Design Award (2007) and combines her activity in the studio with the design and production of everyday objects. She loves to experiment with materials and techniques; Henrike organizes creative workshops for children at the Rudolf-Steiner Waldorf School in Neuwied.
Lucas Fernández-Trapa studied architecture at ETSAM and TU Berlin and has a long professional experience in national and international studies, among which Herzog & De Meuron (Basel) and Foster & Partners (London) stand out. He has lived in four countries, and in seven different cities, he is married to Henrike Elsner. He is also an energy consultant at TU Darmstadt and associate professor and head of international relations at the HS Koblenz Faculty of Architecture.
Heltwerk Architekten works with simple elements and geometries, they like to observe the existing material and imagine how to intervene without altering its character. They try to understand what constructions are, and then they develop ideas according to what they should be. They understand that the essence of the spaces is perceptible and creates a specific atmosphere; architecture must be at the service of the men and women who inhabit it. They love making models and the smell of freshly sawn wood.
Henrike Elsner is an interior architect from FH Mainz and has worked in prestigious international studios, including Herzog & de Meuron (Basel) and OMA (Rotterdam). She is the winner of the Rhineland Palatinate Design Award (2007) and combines her activity in the studio with the design and production of everyday objects. She loves to experiment with materials and techniques; Henrike organizes creative workshops for children at the Rudolf-Steiner Waldorf School in Neuwied.
Lucas Fernández-Trapa studied architecture at ETSAM and TU Berlin and has a long professional experience in national and international studies, among which Herzog & De Meuron (Basel) and Foster & Partners (London) stand out. He has lived in four countries, and in seven different cities, he is married to Henrike Elsner. He is also an energy consultant at TU Darmstadt and associate professor and head of international relations at the HS Koblenz Faculty of Architecture.
