Radical. Absolutely radical. Nestling midway up a hillside overlooking Stuttgart, this house in the form of a parallelepiped, with its entirely glassclad facades, reveals its unconventional outline against a wooded background, benefiting from a location in which the peripheral trees take the place of curtains.

The plan is of biblical simplicity: starting from the top, where access is by means of a narrow bridge, with the kitchen and the dining room; beneath the adjacent void, the living room and office space, with an enclosed sanitary module; one floor further down, the bedroom and bathtub, and another toilet; on the ground floor, the nursery, and a 12 m3 water tank for heat storage.

No internal walls, no blinds or curtains for this house of glass, transparent from top to bottom, built by the engineer Werner Sobek for himself and his family. The space is open and adaptive. The few items of custom-designed furniture are easily moved, including the bathtub mounted on castors.

In the tradition of open concept houses such as the Farnsworth house by Mies and the New Canaan house by Philip Johnson, in which the absolute transparency of the facades and of the interior space was primarily presented as a plastic statement and a spatial concept, the Sobek house aspires primarily to be ecological.

Entirely self-sufficient in energy, designed to be easily dismantled and recycled at the end of its life - not an ounce of plaster or concrete - this house is based upon the philosophy of sustainable development, installed with the least possible impact on the natural environment, without underground pipework.

Its success is the result of maximising the utilisation of the available technical systems. This house adopts the function of a laboratory for technological innovations, built with the approval of the local authorities, who appreciated the potential of this prototype.

The materials are recyclable, comprising a lightweight frame of steel columns and beams, wooden floors, aluminiumceilings and a glass envelope. Energy input is provided by the sun, through the triple glazing that has insulating properties equivalent to 10 centimetres of rockwool but permits the passage of light and heat. Panels equipped with integrated pipes and covering 40% of the surface of the ceiling regulate the temperature, to the exclusion of any other system. Roof-mounted solar cells supply electricity, with recourse to the public network to meet peak demand.

The system is computer-controlled, employing remote control and proximity sensors.

Ecological and technologically avantgarde, sleek, slender and transparent: a style of life.

Key information

Number of storeys	3
New-build home

Location of steel solutions

Beams
Columns
Light steel sections

Types of steel used in the building

Long carbon steel
Metallic coated flat carbon steel

Detached house in Stuttgart