Refurbishment: House with Chapel

On the western edge of the village of Gärberbach – above Innsbruck – stands a house whose core probably dates back to the 16th century; it was once a mill and was later used for farming. An adjoining 18th-century chapel was the site of the mass celebrated with Andreas Hofer shortly before the Battle of Bergisel in 1809. Between the massive three-storey dwelling and the chapel lies a wide, open threshing floor which, together with the former chapel and the open roof structure, is being adapted for residential use. The large volumes of the transverse threshing floor and of the roof structure aligned with the gable form an interior space that the restored timber truss frame draws together into a single whole.

Project information

Period
2006
Location
Gärberbach
Status
Completed
Type
Farmhouse, Building archaeology, Heritage conservation, Timber construction, Interiors, Refurbishment, Housing
Client
Private client
Brief
Refurbishment and conversion of a farmhouse
Haus-mit-Kapelle-05

The present entrance is at the western ramp up to the threshing floor; immediately to its right is the former chapel, which now serves as an open kitchen. The chapel’s small window openings were opened up and replaced by three narrow balcony doors leading to the south-facing terrace. The ground floor, in parts open across two storeys, serves as living and “cooking space”. The bedrooms are located in the attic storey, which is kept somewhat darker in terms of daylight. A clear separation between intimacy and openness was deliberately avoided. All interior rooms are developed as spaces of equal value that are not defined by a single unambiguous function. The central passage through the house has an incidental, matter-of-fact quality; there are no prescribed routes.

01

Overall, what was created was not so much rooms and chambers as atmospheres and niches, layered permeably one behind, beside and above the other. The new fits carefully into the old. It reveals itself not in the architectural articulation but in the clearing of the spaces. Subtle solutions for light and daylighting, high-quality interior fittings and a reduced colour concept characterise this transformation, which is less about creating space than about making space visible.

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