Built in southern Germany, this large residence stands out from its more traditional neighbors in a number of ways. Designed by J. Mayer H. Architecture, the home’s unusual shape, sloped lot, and greyscale color choice all contribute to its overall design feel. Additionally, careful landscape design helps to expand the structure’s presence beyond its actual walls, making the entire property an integral part of the dwelling. The house itself is a three-story combination of natural curves and sharp corners, complete with inset window walls and unmatched overhangs. Each floor has its own unique exterior persona, and globular sections of grey are used on side walls to break up the design. Though it retains the rough form of a conventional house, every detail has been significantly changed to convey an altogether different persona.
The interior of the house is every bit as interesting as its facade, but in new ways. Instead of a shifting array of tones, almost every piece of the inside is pure, smooth white. Since the finish is so uniform, the residence’s indoor walls, ceilings, and structure exhibit a number of unorthodox innovations. The central staircase is a prime example of this philosophy, with convoluted lines that create a different image from every angle. The architect’s creative prowess dominates the inside, turning what could be a dull, monotonous design into a captivating architectural whole.
Every detail of the house is considered as a design element. Door glass and window curtains are specifically colored to soften bright light escaping the house, giving it a more inviting atmosphere.
The lowest floor of the house, which disappears into the hillside of its sloping lot around the back, is covered mostly by an indented black finish, a contrast to the upper two floors’ white and grey combinations.
The black finish doesn’t slide into the hillside along with the rest of its level; instead, it ends with an asymmetric flourish before the wall curves away from the front.
A wraparound walkway follows the curve of the home and the rise of its landscape around from a gate at the front all the way to a deck in the back, allowing residents and guests alike to go straight to the backyard without trudging through the dwelling’s well-kept gardens.
The windows of the house never simply end in vertical boundaries on the building’s corners. They continue beyond each edge to taper away organically one a perpendicular side.
Every smaller exterior window has a corresponding grey finish area, shaped to connect it to the overall form of the home. These differentiated areas aid in breaking up the monotony of a single slab wall.
The house’s rear deck sits at ground level, but contains an opening down into the first floor due to the sloped nature of the property.
The focal point of the home, both architecturally and mentally, is an ultramodern staircase done in a reinterpretation of spiraling style. This staircase leads up from the intentionally empty entrance foyer through all three levels of the structure.
Though the house is almost completely dominated by a sterile, smooth white finish, some shades of grey are present to break it up, especially in areas that are intended as more comfortable living spaces.
The staircase looks different from every different angle on every different level.
The staircase and its surrounding structure is so wide and complex that it’s suitable on its own as a boundary between rooms. On the second floor, it divides the living room and kitchen effectively.
Like in the living room, the kitchen contains some grey and black as well. Its countertops, appliances, and seating are all darker shades along the light spectrum than white.
Further definition is brought to each second-floor room be a raised ceiling section above its boundaries. In the kitchen, this raised section hosts spot lighting for the counter. Drawers and cabinets are minimal and smoothly finished.
A private bathroom is one of the most interestingly-shaped rooms of the house, with an angled ceiling filled with skylight cutouts and a doorless shower stall. A freestanding oval tub serves as the central point of the space.
J. Mayer H. Architecture
