le grand bleu - Reconstruction of a Slate-Clad Mansion

Task. A slate-clad mansion in the center of a small German town has to be renovated in order to meet the owners’ demands.

Situation. Prior to the renovation the house was inhabited by the clients and three tenants. The clients used to live in one part of the ground level and the first floor which has direct access to the garden via a bridge. Half of the ground level and the complete second floor were for rent. The clients wished to restructure the house in order to use the first and second floor for themselves. The ground level should be completely for rent.
Besides the renovation of the facade and restructuring the house, the installation of a bathroom was the most important task.

Technical premise. The insertion is planned as a new layer above the old structure. Every attachment should be visually distinctive from the existing fabric, the floors and walls are left in the state they were found. In terms of constructional physics an existing increasing imbue can be avoided.

Space Movement and Change
The transformation of the existing space. A kind of screen is folded along the existing walls. It follows the walls, leaves them for an instant in order to come back to join them again. The space is divided into a front and a back side of this screen. Sanitary ducts or special, spatially undesirable areas are hidden behind the new wall. The screen is lighting wall as well as depository device and media for varied functions. It is an intelligent object and also an atmospheric medium for the space. Wardrobes with curtains are integrated within the screen. They can be pulled out and contribute to the separation of the bathing zone. Thus spaces of special atmospheres can be created individually. The space begins to flow, the harsh edges of the space are softened.

Atmospheric concept. The screen dominates the room with its blue color. Blue colored glass plates with serigraphs based on maritime motives were set into the screen. In alternation with the curtains a world on the edge of the “grand blue” emerges.

Bathroom Design: