Set on a triangular piece of land, the sculptural form of Villa U is seemingly carved out a single, clay block. Its unusual form is a direct result of the plot’s unique geometries, as the home – a warm grey brick-clad single family house in the sleepy residential Munich suburb of Gräfelfing – turns its back to the main road and follows the site’s footprint in its volumetric expression.
The architects, Munich based studio Pool Leber, cherish the idea of working on a residential commission. Designing a house means ‘to feel the needs of the client, to recognise the place, to develop a succinct idea, and to bring all of them together into one big whole,’ say directors Isabella Leber and Martin Pool.
In this commission, this involves three long openings and a double height space created within the long southern side to add depth and interest to the facades, as well as ensure a spacious, dramatic interior inside, where life can unfold. The double height space becomes the heart of the composition, featuring a further sunken down floor level that creates a cocooning environment for the living space and spills out to an adjacent paved terrace.
Around it, a roughly L-shaped arrangement spans two floors, with the edges occupied by bedrooms, which are lit by elegant, large, black-framed windows. Meanwhile two of these panoramic windows look out towards the spacious garden and swimming pool outside.
Tall ceilings, galleries, terraces and atria give a majestic feel to the whole, taking the residential typology into the realm of a cultural space; an area where the practice has already excelled in, with their Kulturhistorisches Zentrum Westmünsterland, a striking brick and concrete history museum and cultural hub for the city of Vreden, completed in 2018.
As for the practice’s ideal challenge? ‘Our dream commission would be to design a parliament!’ they say. §
