Extension, Aachen

A wooden cube floats with apparent lightness above a glazed first floor. In the extension to a 1940s estate house in the suburb of Aachen, the architect successfully plays with the special load-bearing capacity of LENO^® cross laminated timber.

On a floor area of 10 x 4 m, the extension to the house offers an open kitchen-living room with all-round glazing, while the upper floor houses two bedrooms and a bathroom. The upper floor rests on 4 reinforced concrete columns in the central area of the floor plan. They are the only load-bearing elements on the first floor, which is otherwise completely glazed (without corners) and forms a transparent contrast to the wooden box floating above. The characteristic load-bearing behavior of the LENO^® cross laminated timber elements - they consist of several layers of cross-bonded boards - is what makes this architecture possible: the ceiling element can be point-supported on the 4 concrete columns, the loads are transferred in the element in two axes.

The large-format exterior walls act as panes. Two wall-like beams can be used to create the cantilever arm on both sides in which the bedrooms are located. The bathroom and concrete columns form the load-bearing core, meaning that the outer corners are free of vertical loads. Thanks to the precise details and exact construction, it is possible to create structural elements in living space quality - concrete and wooden surfaces remain visible. Thanks to the high degree of prefabrication, the timber construction work was completed in just 4 hours. A larch slatted façade makes the timber construction of the low-energy extension visible from the outside.

Impressions