Antivilla, the refurbished former German Democratic Republic lingerie factory „Ernst Lück“ at the Krampnitzsee, southwest of Berlin, questions the relationship between building regulations and standards, energy efficiency together with the idea re-use and adaptive living. Built between 2010 and 2014 Brandlhuber+ together with Pichler engineers developed a combined living and studio building with a new approach.

Instead of insulating the existing structure and to save costs, the façade was covered with shortcrete. To generate an open space all non-bearing walls were removed and a functional 20 square meter core with the staircase, bathroom, kitchenette, fireplace as well a sauna were installed in the center of both floors. The space can be zoned by simple transparent PVC curtains according to the actual climate needs. In the summer time the curtains are retreated only to a 10 square meter bedroom in the 230 square meter open loft space, while in winter the heated area makes only 60 square meters of the whole floor area which includes moving the bed closer to the open fire.

La entrada Antivilla se publicó primero en Global Spaces.

Working from the idea of the Four-Directional Module this beach house in Rocha, Uruguay, uses stacked maisonette units to optimize exposure to the sun and surrounding landscape. Perched on pilotis above a pool in a beachside pine grove, the house takes the 3.5 per 12 meter module as its primary building block, repeating and rotating it to create three maisonette units. The interlacing of living and working is realized via the two-story units whose first and second levels are stacked perpendicular to one another.

The north-south orientation of the first module provides ideal light for work, while the east-west orientation of the second module—with morning light and evening sun—produces ideal exposure for living. While all three maisonette start with a similar spatial condition, they are designed to be used in different ways. For example, one unit has a large kitchen, while the second just has a few burners and the third only has an outdoor grill. In this way, the house suggests a variety of possible uses, such as hosting a visiting friend or temporarily downsizing to rent out the other units. Each maisonette unit can operate as an individual apartment, or they can be aggregated to form a single beach villa.

La entrada VRM Rocha se publicó primero en Global Spaces.