Townhouse Flora Köln

Maximise simplictity.

Haus Flora is a new mid-row townhouse in Cologne.

The aim is to maximise the simplicity of the architecture.

This means reduction, order and clear proportions.

Reduction to everything necessary. In search of the good essentials, away from excess as a contribution to a resource-saving and cost-orientated new building. This also means reducing maintenance-intensive building services, reducing the use of petroleum-based materials, or even gluing in the sense of a robust, circular, easily expandable to recyclable building. 

This is realised with intensive individual planning, which creates spaces that can be flexibly adopted and adapted in various phases of the users' lives.

Organisation creates clarity in planning, production and atmosphere. 

Serial and modular construction is economical, reduces faults in realisation and calms the spatial ambience. The entire planning grid for ceilings, floors, roofs and walls is based on 62.5 cm. The industry standard panel size. Joints of white oiled ceiling panels are not visible above the wooden ceiling beams, material offcuts are significantly reduced, large parts of the house can be constructed or extended using self-build methods. The range of materials used is strictly limited to warm and health-friendly building materials and coatings.

Clear proportions ennoble the building, which is simple in the best sense of the word. In terms of urban planning, Haus Flora fits into a new row of three-storey houses. The neighbouring roof lines are taken up economically with air spaces and generous storey heights. Nothing is as generous and at the same time efficient as building around air. The almost square basic shape of the street façade, which is based on the context, is divided vertically into two parts. The division takes up the basic interior structure. The two façade sections are elongated and elegant. The window structure is reminiscent of urban 3-axis houses. The verticality is emphasised by vertical white corrugated aluminium profiles that cover the timber construction. The windows and reveals again expose the wood. Towards the garden, a building-high loggia forms a wooden interpretation of a large-format reveal. The wide window openings on this south façade create a strong relationship between the interior and exterior spaces. In summer, they are naturally shaded by the leaves of the overgrown loggia structure.

Haus Flora is an essential contribution to 2a studio's practical architectural research.