A split-level house built in a difficult area of Germany

Ideally, we would all build houses in areas that feature only the best conditions. This means we would all have beautiful views, surroundings that we like and the landscape would be just perfect. But it’s not always possible to have all that. Sometimes you have to work with more difficult conditions and solutions have to be found each time. A very good example in this case is this house located in Aalen, Germany.

Contemporary affalterwang liebel6

The house was built in 2010 and it was designed by Liebel Architekten BDA. As you can see, it’s situated in a barren area that has stone-filled soil. It’s not exactly the ideal type of site when you want to build a house. Moreover, the plot of land is constricted by stables so light can only come from the southern side. Given these difficult and unusual conditions, the architects had to come up with a solution. So their answer was to build a split-level house.

Contemporary affalterwang liebel6
Contemporary affalterwang liebel6

By doing that, all the rooms on the first floor are north facing and thus they receive natural light from the south. The deep-set courtyard was also a very clever element. The ground floor is 1.5 meters above ground level. The living and dining area is an open space at treetop level so the views from here are quite unusual.

Contemporary affalterwang liebel6
Contemporary affalterwang liebel6
Contemporary affalterwang liebel6

Contemporary affalterwang liebel6

This area also has direct access to the garden despite the different in height. What’s also interesting and beautiful about this house is that t integrates wonderfully into the landscape. It’s partially because the stone that was removed when excavating the site was used later when the house was built.