140-Weidendall Construction Of A Single Family Villa,
Rodolphe Mertens Architects
Villa
/
Completed
The site sits at the dead-end of a street, on the tip of a hill. The plot is roughly about 1.600 square meters and is surrounded by tall pines and beech trees, with a generous day-lighting from the South-East to the West. An existing house stands on the remodeled terrain, entailing a flat base with no relation to the surrounding topography. The clients agree the house should be demolished and make space for a new project that would reconnect with the surrounding relief. L-shaped, the house displays a massive and protective facade to the street, as the back is broadly glazed and laid bare to the encompassing trees.
From the entrance on, the house develops as an interplay of levels, with contracting and expanding spaces flowing through the zones to connect with the rediscovered contours of the site. Visual relations between levels are reinforced by two patios on the median axis of the building. The lower patio is dug out from the ground and provides light to the swimming-pool as well as the television room. The upper patio stands on the first floor behind the front facade, bringing light to entrance hall, staircase, upper corridor and guest bedroom. The dining space stands in between the patios, benefiting from the play of light on tree leaves in these two inverted rooms.
As an inspiration, clients share with us illustrations from early modernism of the thirties and express a desire for serenity and silence. Heaving on clients’ wishes, the building is conceived as an exterior and interior bare concrete shell, shaped by brushed pine board form, with in-between insulation to deliver highly-efficient energy standard.
Coming from the region of the past iron industry, the husband wants the house to carry a hint of his belonging, drawing in steel for light partitioning and furniture. Driven by the dialogue between the thin limbs of steel and the rough weight of concrete, patches of light reveal the contained palette of finishes, made of glass, Silver Roots marble and recycled alpine pine.
Construction description:
• Core: In-site bare concrete with brushed pine board form; wall insulation with polyurethane sandwiched in concrete walls.
• Roof: roofing with Alwitra Evalon, insulation with polyurethane panels, roof finishes with Alwitra profiles
• Windows: Minimal Windows by Keller
• Railings by GlasMarte
• Garage ramp: bricks by Petersen
Technical description:
• Double-duct ventilation with heat exchange
• Energy production : wood pellets heater and thermal solar panels
• Floor heating : Schlüter Bekotec
• System control with domotics
• Sanitary fittings: Agape, Alape, Boffi, Fantini, Toto, custom-made marble washbasins
Finishes:
• Floors: Silver Roots marble, Carrara marble, black-tainted oak, ceramic tiles by Abramo Montini
• Walls: bare concrete, ceramics by Bati Orient étoffe & gris vieilli and Sartoria Vernici, wallpapers, steel
• Ceilings: concrete, acoustic panels with felt in steel frames
• Doors: ComTür recessed frames, Tectus hinges, recycled alpine pine finish
Credits
BRIDEL
LUXEMBOURG
Private
12/2019
970 mq
Rodolphe Mertens
Rodrigo Claudio, Lucas D'Angelo, Alyson Dieu, Ahmed Jemaiel, Alexandre Larrieu
Pianon
Project Manager + Safety Coordination: QBuild SéQ; Supervision and Inspection Office : OGC; Structural Engineering : AuCarré; Technical Engineering: CES Engineering; Energy Certification: Cocert; Interior Design: Inside Group; Landscape Design : Verda
Electricity : JJ Burnotte Lux, HVAC Sanitary : Delvaux, Fireplace : Plaisir du Feu, Audiovisual: Audiophile, Lighting : Firstfloor, Occultation : Valerius, Interior Metalwork: Metal-Line, Exterior Metalwork: Idealtec and Nico Betzen, Aluminium doors and windows : Keller, Natural stone : Lampertz, Ceramic tiles: De Cecco, Furniture: Inside Group
Images: courtesy of Rodolphe Mertens Architects; 3D rendering: VIZE architectural rendering; Photography by : Andrés Lejona and Vincent Rémy
Curriculum
Located in Luxembourg at Europe’s crossroads, our multi-cultural and dynamic team provides tailor-made services in contemporary architecture and design. Our experience spans through a broad range of sectors, allowing us to benefit from cross-border inspirations. A flexible approach to find unique and innovative solutions for challenging requirements. From inception to the making, delivering a building is no light matter. Forgoing a constructive and trustful relationship with a client is essential for the fate of a project. We bring upmost efforts to a mutual understanding about needs, objectives and conditions, as well as to obtain optimum clarity of a client’s brief before starting a design process. If needs and desires vary infinitely, natural resources are limited. We are committed to conceive unique designs finely tuned to individual wishes while integrating ecology and energy-efficiency. The meeting point between well-being and sustainability is a place of beauty and harmony.