House by the lake

A residential house on the lake
The bungalow, which dates back to 1962, will be preserved in its basic form, but it will be extended to include additional living space. This will involve extensive gutting and energy-efficient renovation. The main challenge with this project is that the existing structure had reached the permissible lateral building limits, and the ceiling height in the basement was only 2.05 meters, which did not meet the minimum habitable range. The architectural solution to generate enough living space for a family of four is to lower or re-found a section of the basement by 100 centimeters in depth. This is made possible by an elaborate WU reinforced concrete structure that resists groundwater and earth pressure on the unique lakefront property. By lowering one floor level and adding a 12-meter-long atrium running the length of the building, a completely new residential floor is created. On the first floor, the bungalow was almost completely opened to the lake side by a large-format openable glass facade. The building’s glass corner is column-free, which was made possible by a 75cm high overlay in the reinforced concrete ceiling above.