Charlemagne Croco

Description

In Luxembourg City, a corner house dating from 1957 which had been converted into a day care centre stood fragmented and stripped of its soul: the rooms were carved up by heavy, the garden sealed under concrete and rubber safety tiles. The project seeks to edit rather than replace. Towards the street, the approach is one of precision or repair, whilst towards the garden, it involves subtraction and physics-defying engineering.
A cubic volume is inserted. Inside, the floor is articulated as three stepped levels—creating a domestic topography where steps descend from the living room, through the kitchen, and down to a dining and second living area on the garden level. Thick hovering ceilings absorb structure and services into a continuous envelope. Fixed elements compress to the edges, freeing a central field. Six 4.5m sliding glass panels turn the façade into a mobile plane, with the house extending and the garden entering.