Directly in the urban area of Mainz, the sustainable timber construction replaces the existing semi-detached house, which can no longer be used due to the minimal room heights, the damaged construction and the extreme pollution levels. In the heterogeneous urban environment of individual buildings, row buildings from the post-war period and the beginnings of Wilhelminian perimeter block development, the new building fits into the adjacent building structure of free-standing semi-detached houses. The building, which is thus positioned in the middle, divides the property into two different sides: a green side with lawn and a development and farm yard side with a hidden terrace. The existing garage will be adapted and serve as a buffer to the street. It will have the same rear-ventilated façade made of pre-greyed larch as the residential building, creating a small ensemble in terms of design. The special, tapered layout of the plot is also recognisable in the floor plan formation. The living space opens up to both sides of the outdoor space, allowing for different connections and usage patterns. The residential building for the family of five is designed as a compact structure with minimized living space consumption. Despite the small living space per capita, four individual rooms can be implemented. During the planning phase, the construction details were developed as homogeneously as possible and without gluing. The component structures have been extremely simplified in some cases, e.g. the floor ceiling made of board stacking elements is directly covered by glued carpet tiles. The insulated floor slab made of reinforced concrete serves as a robust floor covering on the ground floor. For the heating system, a wall heating system in dry construction was used behind an interior cladding made of untreated tongue and groove boards made of spruce. The wooden windows flush with the façade are projected floor by floor - a system that also occurs in the neighbouring houses. The horizontal diamond strips of the façade, which are of equal length over the height of the building, are precisely matched to the projecting window elements. The building base made of presented concrete angle stones does not require any further sealing. Due to the high degree of prefabrication of the timber frame construction and the avoidance of drying times, an extremely short construction time could be realized.
Text: Henning Grahn Architekur
Photos: David Schreyer
