House Haller

The vision was a customized building, incorporating the impressive panorama at the foot of the Alps with a lifestyle demanding variable solutions. The owner’s specifications were a house combining living and working areas under one roof.The entire design of this compact house conforms to the location and it was built into the slight decline.As the hill side of the house is embedded, the east facing cellar area could be naturally illuminated and used as an office, for example. This office has direct access, via covered outdoor steps between the main entrance and the carport. Due to its ideal positioning, the building profits from the optimal use of the mountain sunshine. In spite of being highly original and very chunky, looking almost fortified, the building does not appear out-of-place in its surroundings. The nearby 150-year-old, heritage-protected, typical Bregenzerwald farmhouse is reflected in the Haller house. Local tradition has been reinterpreted, focussing on aesthetic details without cutting back on functional aspects.

photography by © Albrecht Schnabel

The entrance area is generous and includes a guests’ cloakroom. It is also possible to enter the house or the office from the double garage. The central staircase divides the ground floor into a living area and a kitchen/eating area. The bedrooms and an extra bathroom for guests are situated on the first floor. The owner’s bathroom has a separate terrace, which is ideal for relaxing and enjoying the magnificent views. The ridge and pitch of the roof give each first-floor room an individual character.The internal walls and ceilings are covered with local silver fir wood, which gives the rooms a cozy feeling despite the large glass windows.

The outside façade and the roof have been finished with local silver fir shingles. Here we can see how the architect as made use of a single material, testing its possibilities and confinements. What was once considered confined to traditional buildings appears here as experimental.

photography by © Albrecht Schnabel

Project Info
Architects : Jurgen Haller
Location : Mellau, Austria
Year : 2008
Type : Residential
Photographs : Albrecht Schnabel