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RESIDENTIAL & STUDIO HOUSE LECHNER

year: 2010 | typologie: residential - commercial | status: complete

Architektur Lechner & Lechner

If you want to realize your dream of your own house today, you are usually looking for a lot of space and nature. This project shows that there is another way - in the middle of the old town of Salzburg. The aim is to implement a holistic, modern model of life through an environmentally friendly and sustainable way of life.

For this purpose, an energy-efficient house was built in the middle of Salzburg's old town. Such a project in the World Heritage Site  requires an intensive examination of the location and persistence for development and implementation. The aim was to strengthen the European city and to connect living and working in one place.

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The focus is on efficient use, functionality and comfort: "Everything you can dream of". In this way, the workplace, living space and leisure area are brought under one roof on several levels. But above all, the house tries to guarantee autonomy

in terms of energy and leisure quality. Around 35 m2 of photovoltaic system, the panels of which also work with diffuse light due to the lack of all-day tanning, generate more electricity than is required for heating, household appliances and lighting.

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Specifically, as was typical in medieval building typologies, the ground floor accommodates the craft or commercial function — in this case, an architectural studio. The office was originally built in the 1990s within a former motorcycle workshop that had been abandoned. The hanging cabinets for the plan

documents are suspended from steel I-beams on the ceiling and can be moved along rails attached to the beams. This allows the space to be reconfigured for various purposes, such as events or exhibitions. he room features acoustically soft wall surfaces that both improve sound quality and allow architectural drawings

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to be pinned directly to the walls.  The work area is slightly elevated and set back from the street to create a subtle sense of separation. The private living area has its own entrance from the street.Despite the extremely high building density — the plot measures only about 130 m² — the private area, starting from the first floor, was designed

to feel like a single-family home. The upper volume includes a spacious outdoor area with a genuine roof garden — with proper soil depth for real planting — and even an outdoor pool. In this level, it was particularly important to ensure that one can walk all the way around the house, as one would in a detached home. For this reason,

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indoor floor space was deliberately sacrificed in favor of outdoor quality.At the same time, the entire floor functions as a winter garden and is fully glazed. This not only visually distinguishes the upper structure from the exterior, but also creates a strong visual connection to both the city and the private garden. One lives in the garden, and

large sliding windows allow the interior and exterior to merge completely. Above this level are the private rooms — bathroom, bedroom, and others — which become increasingly intimate as one ascends. Here too, the design continues to play with framed views and visual relationships, maintaining the dialogue between

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Architektubüro Lechner & Lechner

In terms of materiality, it was important to us to use sustainable, authentic materials such as lime and others that convey a natural and genuine tactile quality. he result is a building that, upon closer examination, combines the qualities of the compact European townhouse with the insights of modern living —

— the desire for light, air, and the longing for a private home — all within a footprint of just 130 square meters.The concept represents both a utopia and a countermodel to the trend of urban flight and its consequences — urban sprawl, increased mobility demands, and the loss of vibrant city life.

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“We, the inhabitants of our city, must create our own cultural environment. We need spaces of projection that allow for constant transformation and the formation ofidentity. 

he goal is to foster a discussion of broader content — far beyond aesthetics.”  — Quote from Christine & Horst Lechner, “Keinem seine Gestalt,” Zurich, 1997

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