Clad in Cork

The materials chosen by the architectural firm of rundzwei Architekten are not the only feature that makes this home special. The division of the building levels is also anything but standard. This is for good reason as the building regulations only permitted one full-height storey on the plot. By lowering the base of the building and using it as a living space, combined with the staggering of the areas on the upper floor, the architects maximised the total floor space to 320 m².  

Above the base, the house is made from a timber construction. The façades and roof are completely clad in cork. The cork used comes from Portugal, where the cork granulate is a by-product of bottle cork production. It is pressed into façade panels under high pressure and heat, which pulls out the resin in the cork and binds the granulate. This means that the panels are naturally resistant to weather and mould, with no need for chemical additives. Furthermore, this natural product has very good insulation values. To improve energy efficiency even further, triple glazing with a Ug value of 0.6 W/(m²K) was used exclusively. The building was designed and constructed as a KfW efficiency house 55. 

In order for this to be implemented structurally, round columns with their upper and lower head plates were attached to all corners of the shell of the building and thus ensure that the upper ceiling is lowered. This meant that the mullion/transom construction had to cover the supports both at the top and base point. "The challenge for us as fabricators was to fabricate the sections precisely and ensure that the all-glass corners were possible," explains Hans Timm from Hans Timm Fensterbau GmbH & Co. KG. He adds: "The installation sequence for the mullions was chosen to allow the fixing feet under the transoms to be completely concealed.”

The Schüco FWS façade system with 50 mm face width was therefore used here. The mullion/transom façade features a wide selection of pressure plates and façade cover caps. The system can also be combined with Schüco window, door and sliding systems. The corkscrew house was enhanced with TipTronic windows and integrated bi-fold and lift-and-slide doors. Interestingly, the structural requirements for the lift-and-slide doors were met by the internal and external structural pilasters in the system.