Jochen Specht envelops a 1960s house in a new timber and concrete facade

Pale   wooden surfaces and joinery in the extension help to further   differentiate these spaces from the   older sections of the house. The new facade features a concrete base, above which an assortment of different windows are framed by aluminium and timber. Inside the building, openings made through the white-rendered surfaces of the original stonework merge the existing rooms   with the new spaces to create generous   living areas. The local architect gutted the original   building, removing obsolete fixtures and extensions but preserving the original stone walls, which are now coated in a layer of clean white plaster. Architect Jochen Specht has   doubled the size of a 1960s house in rural Austria by encasing its stone walls behind a new facade made up of   dark timber, concrete and plenty of windows (+ slideshow). Inside, the steps transition   to concrete and then to wood. Located   on a hill above the city of Dornbirn, the   original 85-square-metre Haus Hohlen offered residents   views of the Rhine Delta and Lake Constance. He then   added   a new facade, creating a house within a house. Photography is by   Adolf Bereuter. Together, these conceal all of the original outer walls. «The wooden frame construction is intended as a spatial contrast to the existing solid structure,» said the architect. A utility room, bathroom and hallway are housed in this central area at ground level, and a kitchen,   bathroom and dining room on the upper level. Site plan – click for larger imageGround   floor plan – click for larger imageFirst floor plan – click for larger imageSecond floor plan – click for larger imageCross section – click for larger imageLong section – click for larger image «It was important to keep the old house’s structure recognisable within the new – old windows became passageways, an old kitchen window became a pass-through, another window became a niche for a basin,» said the architect.