Sebastian Blancke, Architect BDA, founder of OOW, has extended his grandparents' house with a minimalist new building to make it a place for the next generation. The client is his cousin Wibke Tiedmann. A conversation about how to combine classic houses with modern construction, how to create places for togetherness and for retreat, and why living in beautiful architecture is so satisfying.
Wibke Tiedmann: The house has always been an open place where people love to come together - only recently a group of Swedish scouts camped in our garden. That fits with the fact that our parents, and our grandparents before them, always loved to throw parties. With my parents we hardly ever went out to restaurants; we always celebrated at home. That is what makes this place what it is. And then I remember the piano lessons on Friday afternoons that rang in the weekend, children playing and, of course, Basti, who could juggle toilet brushes and even breathe fire - which we cousins naturally thought was mega cool. (laughs)
Sebastian Blancke: Yes, it is a wonderfully open place. The bond with the neighbours has grown over decades. In terms of social cohesion it is almost a village-like microstructure. I always found it incredibly positive and wonderful how this open house was lived in. There were always friends, neighbours, relatives and children around.
Wibke: The neighbourhood in Stuttgart is very privileged, yet my primary school was completely mixed. On top of that, my dad had five siblings, so throughout my childhood there were always children in our garden. We also had a pool in the garden, which was a magnet for the neighbours' children.
Sebastian: The existing building sits very centrally on the plot and divides it into an area at the front towards the street and a private area to the rear. The front garden feels like public street land. Every neighbour is free to come in without ringing the bell.
Wibke: Thanks to this division, even now, having built a second house, we can still live this balance of openness and privacy. My family and I can retreat to our terraces; my brother, who now lives next door, to his rear garden. This division works really well.
Sebastian: What the front and rear are in the garden finds its counterpart in the house's storeys. The zoning of private and public in the garden becomes vertical in the house. The communal and private spheres are clearly separated: on the ground floor, family and friends come together; one floor up lie all four bedrooms. Whoever goes up the stairs finds very lovely places to retreat. As a general rule: the higher you go, the more private it becomes. The house has, incidentally, a fairly small footprint. We still managed to build four storeys, because we played with the proportions and, for instance, planned the children's rooms to be small yet sufficiently large. That is how we were able to create the zones ...
Wibke: ... that we love so much today. I love this house! What Basti worked out in theory, we enjoy in everyday life. In the large living and dining area, for example, he planned a "play zone" where, even today, we set up the marble run when guests come over. And: we have already talked about how our family loves to celebrate - in the living and dining area we can set out a large table. And then there are the details we take such delight in - like the flush door from Italy, which opens in such a way that no one sitting at the table has a door handle at their back.
Sebastian: It shows in the fact that the right rooms are in the right place! Because if that is not the case, it can no longer be saved later, not even with wonderful fittings. The right arrangement determines how I live my day-to-day life and how I can use the house. That has turned out really well.
Wibke: Exactly, and it also shows in one of my favourite places, the kitchen and dining area: the kitchen units almost disappear from view, because we did not want to spoil the quality of the large room with a kitchen block. The scullery and the eat-in kitchen can now be separated off by a sliding door. Which, incidentally - another of the many lovely details - is at the same time a chalkboard where, as a family, we write down anything important.
Sebastian: In the living and dining area, outside and inside merge almost seamlessly, partly through the use of a lot of glass. I sit in the dining room and yet feel as though I am also in the garden, right in the middle of life. The kitchen area combines the best of both worlds, because after eating I do not have to tidy the kitchen straight away; by sliding the door shut I can make the dirty dishes the problem of my future self. (laughs)
Wibke: Yes, there are so many! Basti keeps getting sent photos of my new and old favourite spots!
Sebastian: Top marks - best client! (laughs)
Wibke: Thanks to the three terraces, we can always follow the position of the sun, which is an incredibly high quality of life. In summer we always have a little spot, for instance to have breakfast in the shade. Another favourite spot and place of retreat is the annexe flat, which I use as an office. True, I am sitting "in the basement", but thanks to the hillside location I can look out onto a house with a little tower that recalls a small castle. Thanks to the good planning, a high-quality room has been created here, where together we perfected the final details. There are so many things that bring me joy every day: the skirting boards on which no dust can settle. The wooden floor that runs through every storey. The feeling of walking up the stairs and, from the roof terrace, looking out onto a former vineyard, the edge of the forest and the Stuttgart television tower. In the middle of the city - simply magnificent! In my parents' house next door there is only a small dormer; you do not have this view there. To be able to open something like that up and enjoy it: that, for me, is what makes the quality of this house.
Sebastian: I had not realised beforehand either what a fantastic view you have. That is the art of good architecture: to draw the most out of what is already there.
Wibke: Our little ritual on this terrace is the mid-morning coffee break: an espresso with a view of the television tower, Stuttgart's landmark. And on mild evenings it is a hit with the children: they love to sleep out there under the starry sky.
Wibke: Even though the two buildings have a very different character, we took great care to connect the old and the new. One example: the old house was built from Münster travertine limestone. When my father saw how the new house would partly conceal it, he sighed: such a shame! That gave us an idea ...
Sebastian: In the bathroom there is now what we call a viewing wall: here the wall is exposed and you look onto the old stone.
Wibke: Which, by the way, with its yellow-beige colour radiates a wonderful warmth. And every morning in the bathroom I experience the connection to the old house.
Wibke: The new house stands where the car used to park and the washing used to dry. That made it emotionally easier. (laughs)
Sebastian: I did approach the planning with a certain awe, well aware that here I would be watched closely by the entire family. Wibke and her husband were the clients, but the actual client body was much larger: aunts, uncles and cousins! We had an absurd number of conversations, and everyone was aware that we were not building on a greenfield site here. I wanted to approach the old house appropriately; for me it was always about the right proportion between the new building and the existing old one. We did not want to copy anything - to be modern, but to treat what was already there with respect.
