- Area: 317 m²
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:David Schreyer
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, VELUX Group, Wienerberger, Adobe, Kartel, Monier, Trimble, Vola, Wever & Ducre
Text description provided by the architects. The “White House“ is part of an architectural ensemble of two residential buildings, located in the “Waldvillenviertel“, a popular suburban district in the city of Mainz. Besides the admissible building density, a sloped roof shape was one of the building requirements on the plot. The layout of the house enables a pleasant usage of the garden and takes care of the existing vegetation with its oaks and pine-trees and regards the existing site topography.
The White House contains two separate dwelling units, one is used as an architecture office and hideout for the clients on the weekend. Clearly divided to an open plan area and a buffer zone, containing technical, sanitary and storage space, the inner organization of the building offers a generous space for cooking, eating and living on the ground floor. The maximized glazing connects the living space to the garden visually.
In contrast to the dense upper floor with individual rooms, the attic story is designed as a generous space, light-flooded with roof windows. The extraordinary glazing stages the introverted roof patio. Here, you can relax among the treetops of the oaks. The asymmetrical position of the ridge reflects the inner organization with the stretched dividing wall. The architects decided to cover the roof with white roofing tiles and blend in the color of the facade to gain a monolithic appearance of the house as much as possible. Load-bearing walls were constructed with insulating bricks.
The window frames, the parquet floor, and the terraces are made of oak. The construction details were developed as a kind of optimized standard details with regard to the desired monolithic appearance. A fuel cell ensures a high energetic standard of the house. Embedded into a green environment the intended tension between the black and the white house represents the community, paradoxical achieved by a strong visual contrast. The three existing oak-trees between the two houses form the new heart of the eye-catching architectural ensemble.
