Guth & Braun Architekten and DYNAMO Studio designed this cool urban house in Germany boasting an interesting balance of contemporary and traditional, with lots of surprise elements infused throughout. The 19th Century neoclassic house was renovated and revitalized with modern touches, while still preserving the structure’s original integrity, from its interior courtyard, to the arching ceilings, and the spiral staircase leading through the home’s levels up to a glass ceiling. Check it out.
The house remains largely inconspicuous, featuring a large flat face dotted overlooking the street. Symmetrical panels
The sandstone walls are warmed up with wood and windows that flood interiors with natural light and views of the city.
The closed off exterior provides privacy to interiors while adding interest to the urban jungle.
The stone panels are carved with a delicate floral pattern that is only discernible from a distance, giving the hard stone a soft, textile quality.
From the back, the home totally opens up to the garden through a glass sunroom, complete with an interior courtyard and tree.
The high glass walls slide open to transform this sun space into an alfresco living room that’s part of the garden. Just to the right of this contemporary glazed room, an arching doorway frames views of the green garden and invites you into this unusual, off-the-wall interiors.
Inside, you’ll find a mix of modern and organic. The arching ceiling follows the shape of the doorway and leads you through this tunnel-shaped dining area, wrapped in painted cobblestone-style bricks and wood.
The shape of the room naturally draws the eye back to the outdoors.
Through another arched opening, the kitchen is a natural extension of the dining room, taking you toward another glass door leading outside. The warm wood and rough polished stone floors bring a rustic style to this traditionally warm, welcoming hub of the home.
The formal dining area is a rich, earthy palette that whets the appetite for good food, good company and good conversation well into the night. The dark, dramatic walls color and wood details are balanced by the brightness flooding the space through the large windows.
An adjoining room features golden walls with an intricate, shimmering pattern that lures you in and hypnotizes you.
The textured walls offer variations in their density, tactility and color, taking you through a veritable playground for the eyes and fingertips as you move from room to room.
A winding spiral staircase leads through each level of the house, offering an organic-shaped focal point with a purpose.
Finished in wood, this functional feature is a true work of art.
The kids’ rooms are vibrant and playful, yet still maintain that organic edge with plenty of wood and natural shapes, like the circular holes cut into the walls acting as entries to the built-in beds. Beautiful!
What initially looks like a stone house with hints of wood adorning its exterior quickly reveals itself as a wood house from the inside out. Wood walls and floors, as well as various details like interior doors and built-ins give this urban home an earthy aesthetic.
The master bedroom boasts a built-in bed that sits on a wood platform, cradled by this warm, organic material. The dark walls boast a linear, linen-like texture on one side, and a foliage-inspired pattern on the other. Between them, the wood floor, bed and feature wall take shape around a window framing the leafy tree outside.
The bathroom is splashed in textured stone tiles along the floor, walls and bathtub surround. A wood vanity and cabinets extend into a bench beneath the windows overlooking the city streets.
The pinnacle of this house – literally – is found in the attic, where a glass ceiling lets in the blue sky and sunshine.
Here are some floor plans outlining the home’s layout:
Guth & Braun Architekten and DYNAMO Studio
photo credit: P. Wunstel
