House of Yards
Despite its footprint of 38 x 19 meters the “House of Yards” has a very light, delicate touch. The rectangular-shaped house with its soft wooden core was built into a slope, on a site overlooking the Rhine Valley, which lies between the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and the Swiss canton of St Gallen.
Due to two closed facades it has a hermetical appearance from the street. The two other sides open up to the landscape. Two frameless windows and two breakthroughs interrupt the facade to draw a view over the valley as far as the Swiss mountains. Four patios resp. courtyards bring the additional light deep into the house and give the project its name. The biggest one holds a pool and is, so to speak, the sun deck. A band of concrete stretches across the open side of the courtyard, framing the view of the valley. A further patio set behind large metal door contains a flight of concrete steps that lead down to the front door. Two smaller slits in the plan are filled with gravel and planting, completing the house's four courtyards.
Kitchen, bedroom and living space are all on one level and are arranged in a U-shape, wrapping around the pool deck with large expanses of glazing.
The entire house is conceptualized as an open floor plan, the rooms merge into one another. Downstairs, the smaller lower ground floor contains a
wine cellar, three identical guest rooms for the client's children and a laundry room.
The material strategy has been to use a limited number of high quality materials. The exterior of the building consists of concrete and enodised aluminium (front door and garage door). Interiors are featured with exposed concrete and timber wood cladding (oak) and wooden floor made of oak.
