Soberrijk III (Edelweiss)

Just as a skyscraper exponentially repeats its modest footprint, this house seeks to multiply every square metre of its tiny plot. The gabarit, the legally defined buildable volume, is pushed to its limit. The roof begins as a quiet gable against the party walls, but as soon as there’s room, the lines shift: the roof bends into a mansard. Ridges and cornices are stretched to the extreme, anything to gain a bit more space.

Within that volume, the floors are staggered. They span from one wall to the other, but at different heights between front and back, a split-level. That split makes all the difference. It allows the floor heights to be carefully tuned. A rear storage room is tucked in at the absolute minimum head height, and just like that, a whole extra level fits within the same volume. At the front, the roof only allows half a floor. So that becomes a covered terrace, a true crow’s nest, high above the rooftops, catching sun nearly all day.

Between the floor slabs (since they don’t touch) is where the stairs and the technical infrastructure go. Like a delicate spine, they support all circulation and flows in the most open way possible, without blocking the light. Light is everything here. Precious. It enters through the roof and the front façade. And the split-level offers another hidden gift: its staggered levels follow the sun’s angle better than flat floors ever could. The sun reaches deeper and stays longer. It seeps in from all sides, through, between, and along.

The house may be compact, and affordability is always under pressure, but its richness comes from its spatial clarity. Its restraint lies in its materials: rapid-construction blocks and precast concrete slabs. Polished floors. Exposed beams and lintels. Keep it simple often means keep it affordable, and the reverse holds just as true. The façade is a direct expression of what happens inside. A red brick plinth borrows its proportions from the construction blocks behind it. Concrete lintels act as both structure and threshold. Above, a simple plastered skin. The windows are placed just where they’re needed. Even their proportions follow the logic of economy: fixed panes are cheaper than openable ones.

At first glance, it may have seemed uninhabitable. But even on a barren rock, a delicate flower can bloom and thrive. An edelweiss.