Heuchelheim, Germany
Peter Gronych and Yvonne Dollega from the firm gronych+dollega architekten devised this new house located in the countryside on the outskirts of Heuchelheim that is designed with a unique, radical sustainable feature as it rotates with the course of the sun like a sunflower.
Kylie Residence recently won a 2022 International Architecture Award and a Green Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
In the winter, the heating requirement is minimized due to solar gains whereby in the summer, it turns into the shade protecting the house from overheating.
At the same time, the relationship between the exterior and the interior is constantly restaged by rotating the building.
Like in a film sequence, the residents experience the effect of the different scenarios on the interior.
Seasons and the run of the day can be perceived emotionally, creating intense spatial atmospheres and a high level of identity.
The sculptural shape of the residential building develops from the requirements of the users as well as from the structural and energetic frame conditions.
The living area forms the heart of the building with high open-air space and a dynamically designed staircase made of steel.
The functional areas are arranged around this air space as freely formed architectural elements.
The privacy area for the residents is integrated as an independent structure in the shape of a boomerang into the cylindrical base structure.
A walkway through the airspace connects the work area and the far-reaching relaxation area.
Thanks to its plasticity, the sculptural shape of the residential building creates a variety of spatial situations both indoors and outdoors.
The exciting geometries and the individual spatial alignments of the structural components allow the exterior and interior to become one.
The architecture transforms into a living organism.
Heating is provided by a groundwater heat pump.
Thermal comfort is achieved by using capillary tube mats on the floor and ceiling.
A photovoltaic system on the roof generates electricity.
In the overall balance, the house produces more energy than it consumes.
The building is constructed with sustainability in mind. Building materials are used according to their significance.
The building is realized as a prefabricated modern timber frame construction due to its economic efficiency and ecological aspects but also on account of its weight.
Oakwood as a native hardwood is used in the exterior for the decking of the terrace and in the interior for the furniture, the wall cladding, and for the parquet flooring.
Project: Kylie Residence
Architects: gronych+dollega architekten
Client: Petra and Christopher Rinn
Photographers: Peter Gronych + Yvonne Dollega
