Green shingles cover “peculiar” Schuppen house by Brandt + Simon Architekten

This house in Berlin designed by Brandt + Simon Architekten is covered in rows of green shingles with curved edges and features windows laid out to resemble a face (+ slideshow).

Local practice Brandt + Simon Architekten created the house named Schuppen for a couple with a keen interest in gardening, and their child.

The residence is attached to the end of an existing terrace in the borough of Pankow, where it occupies a site that formerly operated as a garden nursery.

The studio decided to cover the house with rounded shingles in varying shades of green, giving the exterior a dappled effect that references the colouring of surrounding plants and trees, as well as the plot’s previous use.

“It recalls the former nursery on the estate and also interprets the client’s brief to build a garden house,” said the architects. “The untypical facade of coloured plain tiles makes this house a peculiar new member of the urban fabric.”

The shingles are also designed to give the building a pixelated appearance from a distance and to contrast with the traditional materials used on neighbouring buildings.

The architects angled the end wall of the property to create extra space for a garden.

This wall features one long panoramic window with two smaller ones, which together appear to create a facial expression.

Inside, the house was designed to have enough space for the client’s large book collection and for entertaining guests.

The kitchen, living and dining area are located on the ground floor, where a large set of glazed doors open onto a decked terrace for outside dining.

An angular white staircase leads to the next two floors, which are occupied by bedrooms and the family bathroom. The uppermost floor is lit by a set of six square rectangular roof lights.

In contrast to the coloured exterior, the finishes are kept minimal. Walls are painted white throughout and are offset by dark flooring.

Schuppen is part of a growing trend for shingle-clad buildings. Turner prize-winning collective Assemble used handmade concrete tiles to give a scaly facade to a collaborative workshop, while architect Laura Dewe Mathews covered her own house in rounded shingles.

Photography is by Michael Nast
Krönchenhagen.

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