Driving up a gently winding private road in the countryside beyond Vienna, a dark house emerges from a vista of endlessly rolling meadows and rows of fruit trees. Settled on a southeast facing slope with uninterrupted panoramic views extending for 150km, this striking family home is designed by Austrian architecture practice WILLL Architektur.
A weighted cantilever strong-arms the house directly into the landscape, connecting the master bedroom on the first floor to the landscape, while opening up a covered terrace below for dining. A wooden sun deck and 15m natural swimming pond extends again further into the valley.
The house has a dense presence, owed to its rough plastered dark grey exterior walls. It holds its own in the striking countryside setting, while also embedding itself in its context. Frameless glazing allows windows to float and oak garage doors are seamlessly integrated.
Take an interactive tour of Where the Eagles Fly
Architect Johannes Will worked with experts in feng shui and geomancy – as the practice do in all their projects – to achieve a natural and spiritual balance across the interiors and architecture. On the ground floor, the dining, living and kitchen spaces are grouped together and oriented towards the valley. Corner glazing opens the kitchen up to the dining terrace, expanding the space naturally during the summer months.
‘When I enter the house, I’m always touched by the tremendous view and how it is staged. I like the contrasts. On one hand the view and on the other hand maximum intimacy,’ says Will, who used oak paneling on the interior walls and some of the ceilings, to bring warmth into the house.
Taking into consideration his client’s request to be able to stargaze, Will extended the ceiling of the master bedroom to 4m high and tilted it to 29 degrees. Using a 5 sq m piece of glass to open up views of the sky above, the room is completely exposed to the outdoors, while also feeling sturdy and secure. A sliding door opens to a sheltered courtyard that connects to the master bathroom.
A wooden sun deck provides access into the 15m long natural swimming pond
Indoor and outdoor living are seamlessly blended through the architecture of the house and the floor to ceiling glazing
A first floor cantilever creates space beneath for an outdoor dining terrace connected to the house by corner glazing
The architecture of the house prioritises living and health. Here, a relaxation room with adjoining sauna overlooks a natural pool
Architect Johannes Will used glazing and an outdoor courtyard connecting the bedroom to the master bathroom upstairs to allow the family to live outside within the landscape while still feeling protected and comfortable
Feng shui and geomancy was developed into the designs for the house
The rough plastered dark grey exterior walls of the house allow it to sink into the landscape and become part of it
Will extended the ceiling of the master bedroom to 4m high and tilted it to 29 degrees using a 5 sq m piece of glass to open up views of the sky
The outdoor courtyard on the first floor connecting the master bedroom to the master bathroom
In the evening the house recesses into the landspace surounding it
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the WILLL Architektur website
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
Mini timber tower offers contemporary take on Austrian farmhouseHaus im Obstgarten, a minimalist timber tower in the Austrian countryside, is a contemporary family home among traditional farmhouses
-
All-timber Austrian kindergarten is an ode to woodArchitect Armin Neurauter designs award-winning, all-timber kindergarten in the countryside outside the Austrian village of Silz, celebrating wood and nature
-
Designer couple create wild Austrian forest home to find work/life balanceWe visit the environmentally friendly live/work base of Volkmar and Catharina Weiss of ‘agency for sustainable communication' vald, an escape nestled deep in the countryside of Austria's Waldviertel region
-
Into the woods: a Hampshire home by Alma-nac is the perfect retreat -
Noiascape’s refined co-living digs for generation rent in London -
Hot stuff: a Chilean house draws on its volcanic landscape -
A Hampstead home by Groves Natcheva brings art deco into the 21st century -
A San Francisco live/work space plays with opacity and transparency
