EFH Haus Cracau / AI.STUDIO

Architect: AI.STUDIO – A r c h i t e k t e n + I n g e n i e u r e

Location: Wahlitzer Weg 4a / 39114 Magdeburg, Germany
Start of construction: June 2010
Completion: March 2011
Property size: 1065.0 sqm
Client: Private
Living space: 204.0 sqm
Enclosed space: 605.0 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of AI.STUDIO

The single-family detached house is located in Magdeburg in a quiet residential area behind the “MDCC Arena”. The property is located in second row and accessed by a 3 meter wide and 30 feet long access route. A Mediterranean courtyard layout with parking spaces, a double garage and the house entrance opens up here. Cypress trees planted in a white pebble bed limit the visual axes to the east. The entrance area is accessible from here, protected against the weather by the one meter over-hanging upper floor. Directly from the vestibule are accessible the guest toilet and the building services room. An air heat pump was installed here as heating system.

The ground floor is designed as a free-flowing space. The dining area and the living room are separated only by a Spartherm tunnel fireplace (Varia B-FDh, linear, 4s with 11KW). Black shadow gaps and white suspended ceilings draw a clean, tidy and uniform interior. The surface concept is limited to the choice of only a few ma-terials. It wants to create a flowing, calm overall impression. Dark parquet, natural stone, white painted walls, white skirting boards, white lacquered interior doors (in-stalled flush) form the basis of the sampled materials. Black colour is outside, white colour inside. The builders like the interplay of light and shadow, which is reflected on the white plastered walls. Quote of the builders: “The colours finally come into the house by the residents.” Nothing is separated, but everything is connected to everything.
The storage room under the stairs and the study can be separated by white, room-high sliding doors from the rest of the loft-style residential use. The centrally located staircase opens up the upper floor over a gallery with glass balustrade. Exciting interactions of splendid views and spatial relationships between kitchen, dining area, fireplace and garden open up to the observer from here. The upper floor is the sheltered area of the house. A children’s room, a bedroom, a dressing room, a wellness area and a west-facing roof terrace are situated here. In the summer evenings the owners can enjoy the sunset. The variety and the possi-bilities of a flowing space continuum result by ever-changing visual axes. It was a great wish of the builders to be able to record the whole interior from any location in the building. We offer the clients a kind of matrix, in which they can develop their individual interior options. All outdoor facilities are organic curved softly and thus form a marked contrast to the cubic architecture of the house.