Three Thatched Barn Homes

Kayla Gulec Kayla Gulec
Außen Reet, innen wow - 3 überraschende Häuser zum Verlieben, Möhring Architekten Möhring Architekten Pasillos, vestíbulos y escaleras modernos
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What exactly does it take to earn a prize for architectural ingenuity? Do you need to create an enormous, five-storey, detailed structure? Does it need a vast array of different architectural elements? The answers to these questions is a surprising no. 

Today on homify, we're going to show you the quaint barn conversion that earned the renowned German architectural prize Landesbaupreis in 2014. We're going to Darß, an area in the peninsula of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern near the Baltic shore to lay our eyes on something truly remarkable. Created and designed by Möhring Architects, this one-storey house is situated with two other identical structures, creating a barn trio occupying the same plot of land. 

As we'll see, the main orientation of the building project was in response to the traffic situation in the east-west direction, and the flat, open space between the buildings were measured to create perfect boundary lines and to give each housing structure adequate privacy. 

A view of the exterior

Pipe material was prescribed as the roof in the master plan. Here, Möhring Architects omit the roof overhang and in order to be able to comply with any high eaves formed by the prescribed distance area. An eaves height at 4.50 meters is to finish off a pipe roof, so that the continuation of the pipe in the wall represented the consequent decision. This measure was directly related to the development of the Trio as an entire housing project.

The gable ends with alignment to the North, faces the street, and has been formed with a perforated facade. This design was provided with lockable sliding shutters for visual, sun, and insect protection. The main span of the building are the two-storey glass windows on the East and west sides of the building. These face away from the street, making the interior less visibly accessible to onlookers. The large-format input portals are preceded by a loggia with a covered outdoor area. Two large, black barn doors close the loggia and enter the houses the association of a barn.

A peek of the interior

The incredible use of volume in this house is divided into never before seen airspace.

The living room is separated only by a glass of the outdoor facilities and is an open space between the closed volume. In him the whole building height can be experienced, because the staircase is only hooked like a sculpture between the volume of the dormitories. The private rooms upstairs are designed as mini-suites with private bathroom and private dressing room. At the third level, in the loft there is another offer of two rooms. The houses are trying economic floor plans with the generosity of the hall – the dining area, entrance, staircase and corridor at the same time to put in actual spatial tension and give the houses to their uniqueness.

Many staircases

As we look inside this stunning house, we are reminded of M. C. Escher's Relativity lithograph print, except here, only one source of gravity is implemented, naturally. The staircases here seem to be floating sculptures, and not just functional elements to reach different areas of the house. 

This open plan area of the house includes the staircase, the dining area, and the living room. The dining area is in the center of the house, and from here we can really feel and appreciate the full extent of the building. What we thought was a simple, one storey building turns into a massive, complex, two storey, almost fable-like structure. The sculptural, linear staircase adds even structure to the spacious room, and the natural wood and striking white colour scheme running through the entire building create the illusion of an even larger space.

Traveling upstairs

As we venture upstairs in the house, we are met with a peculiar and uniquely designed layout. The private rooms upstairs are built as mini-suites, each complete with an en suite bathroom and a dressing room. With a stylish, low-lying bed, a small side table, and some soft furnishings, the bedrooms become some of the most modern and functional areas of the home.

The floor planning of this storey helped in opening up the space to make it fitting for comfortable living. The bathrooms are immediately adjacent to the bedrooms and are small and comparatively unostentatious compared to the other areas of the house. They come fully equipped with white sanitary fittings, vanities, and considerably sized mirrors. We can also see a shower room built into one of the nooks of the bathroom.

The outdoor area

As we look behind the house, we can see the huge sliding doors opening up to the green and spacious back yard. From this image, we are able to see more clearly how every aspect of this structure is seamlessly connected. The raised platforms leading up to the house are connected to a paved walkway, which in turn leads to the fenced in garden area. The small fenced garden area is encased by three fence-like structures – one in the foreground, an average looking fence, and the other two to the sides replicating the sliding black barn doors, as if they were a further extension of the home. Möhring Architects has perfectly executed complementary aspects of the house and surrounding constructions so it's as though each part on the property is a part of one large unit.

The Trio

Now we can finally see this amazing architectural masterpiece in its full splendor – coupled with the two other identical barn inspired structures. Seeing these three homes together is like something out of a picture book. Each element perfectly complements the other, yet each house is not without its own distinguishing features. Although they were all designed and built to match, the colouring of each home is slightly different, as well as the garden layout. And to keep the structures recognizably distinct and separate, small trees and shrubs have been planted in perfect lines, straight down the median of the adjoining properties. And although the strip of trees separates the property lines, it still somehow joins each piece of the trio together, creating this award-winning architectural wonder.

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