Spiral House
Life(style) extension in Burgundy
"We want a house with a twist, a house that has something something to say."
A twisting house
When a young french family approached the Powerhouse Company to design a house-extension with a twist they had no idea that it could result in a truly twisting house.
The new wing of the old Burgundy farm house is meant to host guests of the family. With a large living room and a series of guest rooms the extension is not only an invitation into their home, but it also offers visitors a picturesque experience of the surrounding landscape.
Set in the middle of a generous property of 13.000 m², with a small river and a wide variety of old ornamental trees, the Spiral House enjoys the sweet and pastoral charm of the landscape of Burgundy.
A loop into the landscape
Despite its traditional architecture, the existing house was struggling to inhabit and occupy the share size of the garden. By contrast the Spiral House expands freely in the garden, seeking to create many experiences of the surrounding. In a gentle swing from the ground floor to the roof level it creates a surprising variety of spaces that blurs the boundaries between house and garden and allows architecture and the landscape to merge together.
Wrapped around a planted patio, the Spiral House is a reminder of the 'Clos': the walls enclosing the famous vineyards of the region. But while these traditional 'Clos' disrupt the landscape to enclose the property, Spiral House makes an open gesture, a dynamic invitation from outside to inside, a continuous movement from the entrance to the more intimate rooms of the house. More than a house, the Spiral House is a sheltered promenade through the landscape.
Open and intimate
With its abstract and sculptural volume, the Spiral House escapes any pre-set style and dialogues spontaneously with the old house and the garden. Its geometry grew from the internal organisation of the house and the particular wishes of the client, such as a large and open spaces with high ceilings for the living room and the library on the ground floor, and smaller and intimate spaces for the guest suites. The upper floor also includes a multi-purpose dorm/playroom for the kids and their friends.
Together with the existing house, the programmatic loop of the extension creates a central patio. Visitors enter the extension by the patio and thus are directly welcomed in the heart of the house. A gentle stairs rises gradually around this patio from ground floor to first floor, and provides access to all the rooms. It is a continuous trail of soft atmospheric transitions from public to private.
The architecture of the Spiral House is focused on the distribution of openness and the intimacy of space. The fully glazed façade of the patio floods the house with sunlight and creates openness without compromising the intimacy. The external façades are perforated with windows varying in size and proportions and frame selected views on the garden that create a particular atmosphere in each room. The rooms functions as a successions of mezzanines, providing the guest with a subtle feeling of participating in the life of the house.
Elegant and Adaptable
Powerhouse Company's design approach allowed the Spiral House to be build with a conventional budget for a mid-range single family house. Priority is given to the quality of the spaces, to light exposure and view rather than to expensive materials. That means that a large part of the budget was invested in the structure to realize the complex geometry and achieve a surprising diversity of spaces with only 200 m² of floor area.
The clients specifically wished for a design that would permit them to supervise the entire construction of the house themselves. The Spiral House is built with a wooden structure, a system that creates a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. This made it relatively easy to adapt the complex geometry on site and further reduce the budget risks during the building phase.
In terms of materialization, the sculptural dimension of the volume is balanced with minimalist materials and details for the façade, giving it an elegant touch. The hidden window frames reduce the number of visible details on the façade. Additionally, the smooth plaster on the exterior walls contains subtle golden glitter-shine that playfully captures the light.
A twisting house
When a young french family approached the Powerhouse Company to design a house-extension with a twist they had no idea that it could result in a truly twisting house.
The new wing of the old Burgundy farm house is meant to host guests of the family. With a large living room and a series of guest rooms the extension is not only an invitation into their home, but it also offers visitors a picturesque experience of the surrounding landscape.
Set in the middle of a generous property of 13.000 m², with a small river and a wide variety of old ornamental trees, the Spiral House enjoys the sweet and pastoral charm of the landscape of Burgundy.
A loop into the landscape
Despite its traditional architecture, the existing house was struggling to inhabit and occupy the share size of the garden. By contrast the Spiral House expands freely in the garden, seeking to create many experiences of the surrounding. In a gentle swing from the ground floor to the roof level it creates a surprising variety of spaces that blurs the boundaries between house and garden and allows architecture and the landscape to merge together.
Wrapped around a planted patio, the Spiral House is a reminder of the 'Clos': the walls enclosing the famous vineyards of the region. But while these traditional 'Clos' disrupt the landscape to enclose the property, Spiral House makes an open gesture, a dynamic invitation from outside to inside, a continuous movement from the entrance to the more intimate rooms of the house. More than a house, the Spiral House is a sheltered promenade through the landscape.
Open and intimate
With its abstract and sculptural volume, the Spiral House escapes any pre-set style and dialogues spontaneously with the old house and the garden. Its geometry grew from the internal organisation of the house and the particular wishes of the client, such as a large and open spaces with high ceilings for the living room and the library on the ground floor, and smaller and intimate spaces for the guest suites. The upper floor also includes a multi-purpose dorm/playroom for the kids and their friends.
Together with the existing house, the programmatic loop of the extension creates a central patio. Visitors enter the extension by the patio and thus are directly welcomed in the heart of the house. A gentle stairs rises gradually around this patio from ground floor to first floor, and provides access to all the rooms. It is a continuous trail of soft atmospheric transitions from public to private.
The architecture of the Spiral House is focused on the distribution of openness and the intimacy of space. The fully glazed façade of the patio floods the house with sunlight and creates openness without compromising the intimacy. The external façades are perforated with windows varying in size and proportions and frame selected views on the garden that create a particular atmosphere in each room. The rooms functions as a successions of mezzanines, providing the guest with a subtle feeling of participating in the life of the house.
Elegant and Adaptable
Powerhouse Company's design approach allowed the Spiral House to be build with a conventional budget for a mid-range single family house. Priority is given to the quality of the spaces, to light exposure and view rather than to expensive materials. That means that a large part of the budget was invested in the structure to realize the complex geometry and achieve a surprising diversity of spaces with only 200 m² of floor area.
The clients specifically wished for a design that would permit them to supervise the entire construction of the house themselves. The Spiral House is built with a wooden structure, a system that creates a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. This made it relatively easy to adapt the complex geometry on site and further reduce the budget risks during the building phase.
In terms of materialization, the sculptural dimension of the volume is balanced with minimalist materials and details for the façade, giving it an elegant touch. The hidden window frames reduce the number of visible details on the façade. Additionally, the smooth plaster on the exterior walls contains subtle golden glitter-shine that playfully captures the light.
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