BORDERS / The extension of the intergenerational centre at Villa Kolbsheim opens onto the gardens through a glass facade over its full height, creating a seamless transition between inside and out.
While the renovation of the villa from 1900 sought to reaffirm its personality, the choice for the ground level extension was of fusion with its exceptional wooded surroundings. As the key junction for this meeting between building and forest, the facade and its surroundings were treated like a cross fade in cinematography. The full height glass façade disappears in the double reflection of the natural foliage and a ‘forest’ of wooden poles (twenty) of varying dimensions (height, thickness, diameter). Planted in a seemingly random pattern at the edge of the glass, they form a sort of protective undergrowth along the exterior walkway and inside the building. Inside, the suspended ceilings in circles of different sizes and set at different heights seem to blend into the trees, cultivating an affinity between the interior and exterior.
