Antivilla / Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon

Built between 2010 and 2014, the Antivilla by Brandlhuber+Emde, Burlon developed an innovative living and studio building which covered the facade with shortcrete to save costs instead of insulating the existing structure.

Antivilla by Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon technical Information

Architect: Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon
Location: Rotkehlchenweg, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Project Year : 2014
Typology : Residential / Houses
Main Material: Concrete
Design Team : Elsa Beniada, Peter Behrbohm, Klara Bindl, Victoria Hlubek, Tobias Hönig, Cornelia Müller, Markus Rampl, Paul Reinhardt, Jacob Steinfelder, Caspar Viereckl; Structural engineering: Karin Guttmann, Robert Hartfiel, Andreas Schulz / Pichler engineers.
Photographs : © Erica Overmeer

Antivilla is re-using & re-thinking Reyner Banham’s concept of “Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment” from 1969, combining his two distinct principles of “generating space“: The existing structure representing the “constructional aspect“; the climatic gradation representing the “energetic aspect“.

– Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon

Antivilla Photographs

Antivilla Article by Brandlhuber + Emde, Burlon Architects

The reconstruction of the former GDR tricot factory “Ernst Lück“, located at the Krampnitzsee, southwest of Berlin, does not aim for the mere physical upgrade of the outer shell. Instead, it questions the mandatory standards in current building regulations by proposing an new understanding of architecture and environment.

The gabled roof made of asbestos plates was removed and replaced by a newly designed flat one, which structurally functions as a beam, allowing for up to five meter wide openings in the existing walls, which emphasize the physical presence of the existing structure.

Inside, the building was gutted -non-bearing walls were removed. A functional core, including bathroom, kitchen and sauna, supplements the upper floor. The sauna stove functions as the central point of differentiated climatic zones, which dissolve from the warmer inside, to the cooler outside and can be separated by translucent curtains. Therefore the generous spatial impression remains.

While in winter the heated space shrinks to a core area of approximately 70 sqm, it can expand in other seasons accordingly. In contrast to the climatic gradation, the light differentiates according to the functional needs.

Thus, Antivilla is re-using & re-thinking Reyner Banham’s concept of “Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment” from 1969, combining his two distinct principles of “generating space“: The existing structure representing the “constructional aspect“; the climatic gradation representing the “energetic aspect“.