Berlin, Germany

Pergola House by rundzwei Architects PDA merges internal spaces across multiple levels with an exterior wooden envelope that helps shield the house.

Pergola House has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Its design is based on the study of two separate elements. 

The first is the internal space, which creates complex and exciting situations through different levels. 

The second is the envelope of the house, which gives unity to the project by using wood as all surrounding material. 

The interior of the house is divided by a completely open space in ‘L’ shape, the apex of which escapes to the outside space, creating a close connection with the garden through a sliding window that opens across the corner. 

At the same time, the first floor extends vertically through an open space that reaches all the way up to the attic. 

Here, there is a fully open gallery next to an expansive terrace overlooking the lush vegetation to the west. 

The second element is the building envelope, in which wood is the undisputed protagonist. 

Through the use of interstitial spaces, this envelope manages to blur the shape of the building in a sustainable way.

This composition has the intention to serve as a filter for access, views, and as a sunscreen.

Project: Pergola House
Architects: rundzwei Architects BDA 
Design Team: Michelle Bähr, Constantin Blömer, Luca Di Carlo, Marc Dufour-Feronce, Raimon Espasa Bou, and Lou Pelosoff 
General Contractor: Private 
Client: Private
Photographers: elephantstudio, Gui Rebelo