Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2022
Haus Am See Residential House
by Carlos Zwick Architekten BDA
- A' Design Award 2022 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2022
- CLIENT: Carlos Zwick Architekten BDA
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 32,482
- Verification code C28056E76D · Verify this award
About Haus Am See Residential House
Haus Am See is a residential house built beside a lake in Potsdam, Germany. The building rests on a steel skeleton carried by 40 diagonal stilts set on ten separate foundations, so the centuries old trees on the site remain untouched. One tree grows through the house. Ceilings, floors and walls are made of pine wood, the thermal insulation is cellulose fiber, and the facade is formed of narrow vertical larch slats. The roof surfaces are planted. Sliding windows three meters high and seven meters wide open the living spaces toward the water.
Carlos Zwick's Haus Am See Residential House exemplifies a sophisticated dialogue between contemporary architectural intervention and established natural landscape, representing a thoughtful contribution to the tradition of lakeside dwelling design that privileges experiential connection with aquatic environments. The structure appears to engage principles of phenomenological architecture wherein material presence, spatial sequence, and environmental responsiveness converge to create dwelling as meditative experience rather than mere shelter. The cantilevered upper volume demonstrates considerable structural ambition while maintaining visual lightness through the transparency of its glazed facades, which seemingly dissolve the boundary between interior refuge and exterior landscape. The selection of timber cladding allowed to weather naturally suggests an understanding of architecture as temporal process, the silvered patina documenting the passage of seasons and establishing material kinship with the surrounding forest. The exposed steel truss system supporting the cantilever introduces an element of tectonic legibility, honestly expressing the engineering that enables the dramatic projection while contributing a rhythmic sculptural presence. Below, the limestone retaining walls establish genealogical connection to vernacular building traditions while providing necessary grade transitions between water edge and elevated living areas. The compositional arrangement creates a gentle processional experience, inviting movement from the intimacy of the dock through increasingly refined landscape zones toward the architectural terminus. One might observe how the work participates in broader conversations regarding sustainable luxury, demonstrating that environmental sensitivity and refined aesthetic achievement need not exist in opposition. The careful integration of mature trees, including what appears to be a significant oak whose trunk penetrates the composition's heart, suggests design philosophy that privileges preservation over tabula rasa development. Viewers are invited to consider how architecture might serve as frame for natural phenomena rather than object demanding attention unto itself.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The house on the lake also treats its protagonist – nature - with the greatest respect. Interior and exterior seem to merge with each other. The hundreds of years old trees live with the inhabitants of the house, they are present everywhere and one even grows through the house. The large crowns of the ancient oaks and chestnuts take the modern tree house with its restrained wooden facade in their midst.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The house has a living area of 610 m², of which 66.5 m² is the loggia and 6.4 m² is the patio. The load-bearing structure of the building is a steel skeleton standing on 40 diagonal stilts spread across 10 individual foundations.
All cabinets inside the house are built-in cabinets made by a carpenter. The sliding windows to the lake side are 3 meters high and 7 meters wide. The handicapped accessibility of the house is ensured by an appropriate elevator. - Tags
- passive house, german architecture, sustainable design, steel structures, house on stilts, lake house
- Production Technology
- The ceilings, floors and walls of the house are made of pine wood, and the thermal insulation is made of cellulose fiber. The facade is made of vertical narrow larch slats and the roof surfaces are extensively greened.
- Design Challenge
- Due to the large tree population on the property, the structure could not be erected with a normal tower crane. Instead, the entire building was assembled in sections using a telescopic forklift.
A major challenge was the complete infrastructure: supply and disposal of water or wastewater with the necessary slope in the weight-bearing ceiling structure. For this purpose, the holes required for all pipes had to be integrated in the wooden beams and steel girders. As a result, each beam and each girder is unique. - Project Duration
- The project started in 2016 and finished in 2020. In Potsdam, Germany.
- Operation Flow
- Despite the height of the living level, the loggia is nevertheless situated 8 meters above the water surface, making the lake ever present in the house. At breakfast time the users of the house already see gray herons and swans passing by at eye level and in the evening here and there you will see otters waddling through the shallow water.
The heart of the house is the large kitchen-dining room, with a fireplace, seating area and a 7.5 m long olive wood table. Here is where the family with six children come together and enjoy their meals. The two big dogs, Schröder and Tilda, have also found their favourite spots here, where they spend hours warming their fur coats next to the lit fireplace.
It seems as if all of the residents have arrived to their house by the lake. None of them wish to leave and they don´t need to for that matter, either. Nevertheless, even in the event that the circumstances of life should change, the architect already made sure there were possibilities: the house is designed in such a way that it can be divided into three units with ease. Perhaps they even start a really nice pensioner´s shared living community in the future, or even a multigenerational house. - Research
- Nature, in the first place, is playing the star role in the draft of the architect’s house. The water had him captivated and he thought to himself, how can he places the interior and exterior as close to the lake as possible. The first drafts were quickly realized, Mies van der Rohes Farnsworth House as the inspiration. It would be a house which respected the nature by integrating it in its architecture. The age-old trees would remain untouched – this was clear from the beginning.
- Inspiration
- The architectural concept of the house pays tribute to the historical roots of the place. Without compromise, it subordinates itself to them without touching their essence. The structure floats above the terraces, respecting their space and form.
- Image Credits
- José Campos