A home where work and family can come together and that integrates itself into the existing cityscape in a vibrant and innovative way - the five-storey residential and office building owned by FLOSUNDK architektur+urbanistik GmbH in Saarbrücken meets both requirements. The ground floor and first floor of the townhouse, which is integrated into a heterogeneous urban quarter, form an office unit while the other three floors are used as residential space. The bathrooms in the office and residential areas are furnished with products of Villeroy & Boch.
The semi-detached building stands in an area of the city that is characterised by a generous green belt with a large church at its heart. The park is encircled by schools, a kindergarten as well as various residential buildings. Five floors offer a total area of approximately 425 m² across the almost square ground plan.
The office areas on the ground floor and first floor, which are connected by an internal staircase, do not contain room-dividing elements along the building's longitudinal axis aside from a statically required wall. On the second floor a generous living space is complemented by multifunctional rooms and a balcony. Children's rooms and bedrooms with bathrooms are situated on the third floor, and the fourth floor offers a panoramic view with a Loggia and large glass surfaces.
The facade is made of lightweight concrete panels. For the external walls, rough, horizontal board planking spanning across floors was created, while inside a smooth, large frame formwork was utilised. This results in two different facade structures: The external view marks the monolithic structural body with horizontal channels, while signs of craftsmanship consciously left visible in the concrete infuse the internal space with a vibrant look. The window openings close flush from the outside and on the inside form an all-around, wall-thickness frame clad in oiled wooden planking.
The puristic overall appeal of the building has been consistently carried forward in the bathroom design using products from Villeroy & Boch. Thus, the wall-mounted Squaro Edge 12 bathtub, the extra-flat Squaro shower area and the round Artis surface-mounted bathroom sink made of TitanCeram with their delicate design emphasise the minimalistic design statement of the generous master bathroom and simultaneously offer modern usage comfort. The dual washing area is positioned in front of a room-height mirror that forms a half-open transition to the sleeping area and conceals a wardrobe. In the integrated restroom a rimless toilet of the Subway 2.0 range ensures the best hygiene standards due to low water consumption and cleaning effort.
Accessible from the children's and guest bedrooms, the bathroom with its own shower area is also equipped with a wall-mounted Subway 2.0 toilet. A square Memento washbasin is also installed here.
A bold, dark atmosphere dominates the guest toilet in the office area: A dual-coloured Artis surface-mounted washbasin has been chosen to go with the dark grey, almost black wall and floor surfaces: gleaming white on the inside, pitch black on the outside. Additional white accents include the striking wall toilet of the Architectura series and a white fitting.