A stylish future

Architects Maria Clarke and Roland Kuhn have designed a free-standing private house with separate self-contained apartment, situated amongst the town houses of a popular residential area just outside Berlin. The building owners attached particular importance to forward-looking planning: right from the start, they wanted to make sure that they could grow old in and with the house. The clear cube picks up design elements from the neighbouring apartment buildings and blends harmoniously into the surroundings.

In order to meet the owners’ wishes for a residence that would be suitable for them in old age, the whole building was planned as a disabled-friendly construction. An elevator with six stops links the individual storeys, from the cellar to the penthouse. The floor plans are kept flexible so that the building can be adapted to different circumstances and requirements by adding a few built-in components.

The demand for barrier-free residential units also makes special requirements of the design of the sanitary rooms: they had to be spacious and easily accessible. There for the shower areas are flush with the floor, and there are sturdy handles installed, as a safety aid, if required. The equipment to mount them is already provided in all bathrooms. The no more than 165 mm high Vero washbasin met the architects’ high requirements for a clear, straight-lined design, and came close to the standard for barrier-free washbasins. Both the wall-mounted and the console versions of Vero are installed in the AST house. The bidet from their Starck 3 range complements the rectangular washbasin, and the architects also chose a wall-mounted WC from the Architec range , suitable for for wheelchair users.

In the sanitary rooms, great importance has been attached to avoiding any impression of a sterile clinical environment, whilst offering all the necessary functions.  The use of the same materials as in the living area communicates a visual impression of flowing, barrier-free solutions and the specially made built-in wooden furniture creates a sense of comfort. The moisture-resistant hardwood in the living bathroom in the penthouse is used as floor covering and as wall and bathtub panelling.


www.clarkeundkuhn.de