Berlin studio Baumhauer has renovated a conventional farmhouse in the Swiss hamlet of Florins, inserting a timber construction that consists of new living places in area of an present barn (+ slideshow).
The farmhouse is common of vernacular architecture in Switzerland’s Engadine valley. It initially integrated residential spaces in the direction of the front, in which it faces the village centre, and an spot for agricultural functions at the rear.
Baumhauer focused on expanding the present residential programme into the redundant barn at the back of the constructing in a way that is sympathetic to its historic fabric.
The barn’s unique floor was removed to make room for a three-storey structurally independent timber volume that sits inside the current stone walls.
The wooden addition interrupts the otherwise homogenous white-rendered facades. Its proportions match individuals of a balconied construction that projects from the rear elevation of the adjoining developing.
“The normal local motif of deep window reveals in thick exterior walls has been adopted and exaggerated, signifying the alterations within,” the architects explained in a statement.
“With their sharp-edged detailing, these handful of massive window openings stand out in contrast to the existing architecture.”
Rough-sawn untreated larch was selected for the exterior factors to reference the region’s traditional agricultural structures. Its surfaces will progressively weather and age, assisting the building to blend into its context.
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Inside, a double-height residing room that extends up to the roofline is lined with larch wood, generating a continuous surface that emphasises the remarkable dimensions of the room.
“The style makes it possible for the historical big volume of the barn to remain legible regardless of the changes,” the architects added.
The timber framework also accommodates 4 added rooms, like a double bedroom and bathroom on the upper storey, and a smaller sized single space subsequent to the living region.
A corridor that extends the length of the house connects its original residing spaces with the timber-lined insert.
From the front entrance region, the transition amongst previous and new places is marked by the change from conventional wooden floorboards to the larch surfaces.
A sliding glass door at the rear of the new residing room looks out onto the adjacent hillside and connects this area with a balcony that projects from the facade.
The rest of the home was extensively refurbished, including an elaborately panelled dining area and a neighbouring kitchen with a vaulted roof.
Architect Philipp Baumhauer’s earlier tasks contain a glass and steel poolhouse in Munich and a wooden folly with mirrored shutters in the mountains of southern Germany.
British studio Snook Architects has also converted a former barn into a property featuring exposed wooden trusses, even though a barn in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture was transformed by Kichi Architectural Design into a residence with a mezzanine below its four-metre-substantial ceiling.
Photography is by Ralph Feiner.
Internet site program – click for more substantial image 
Basement strategy – click for more substantial picture 
Ground floor program – click for bigger picture 
1st floor strategy – click for bigger picture 
Lengthy area – click for bigger image 
Cross segment one – click for greater image 
Cross section two – click for more substantial picture 
