Minimal House - Tangermünde (Germany)

This minimal house design is located on a small plot in the historical center of Tangermuende in Germany. A cellar was not allowed to be excavated, because the building grows on top of an existing medioeval cellar structure that is a resort for bats.

There is a narrow strip of garden on the south and east side of the building surrounded by a wall that protects the very open glass facade to south from introspection.

Internally, the building consists just of an unique space, plus bathroom and storage on the ground floor. The room heights have been reduced to the minimum allowed (h_net=2.40m) in order to non take off sunlight from the neighbouring gardens at west, but the living room benefits from a double height and a generous glass wall toward south. On the upper level there are the bedspace and a long and narrow strip (over the kitchen), which shall be used as a study for books and computer.

The building materials are thought to be very natural. Most of the gazing and windows are made of fixed glas panels - only a small proportion is operationabel for natural ventilation. In the small storage space between kitchen and bathroom (GF) a hot water and a grey water tank have been installed - the latter connects to a grey water recycler. The toilet is supposed to work waterless and the roof is a green roof which helps reduce heat losses. For the same reason the north wall has no windows, while west and north walls benefit externally from an additional layer of thermal insulation.