Wurth House in Wormeldange, L
description

The home in his native country of a Luxembourg diplomat who is a great lover of painting. The house lies directly on the left bank of the Moselle, at the entrance to a wine-growing town, and is built directly into the vineyards. It consists of three levels and a converted attic. But one recognises this fact only from the Moselle as, due to the slope, part of the building is embedded in the earth. The lowest level – with the entrance area, garage and basement – indeed vanishes on three sides into the site and is lit only from the façade (southeast) towards the Moselle, and the client has to take into account the fact that it could be inundated during severe flooding. The first floor also partly disappears into the slope, it contains the cooking, dining and living area as well as a terrace (above the garage) towards the Moselle. On the second floor are the bedrooms and a second terrace that faces towards the vineyard. There is a further sleeping area in the attic. The residents of Wormeldange quickly gave this house a nickname: “the praying hand in the vineyard”. This is derived from the articulation of the building volume into “fingers” that only touch each other on the slope side. This device allowed the architect to introduce a great deal of light to the house. The two gable façades – towards the vineyard, towards the Moselle – are completely glazed. Two bands of windows in the roof and the façade interrupt the skin of the building, which is otherwise homogeneously clad with Corten steel.
DATA

Client: Wurth family
Start of planning: 2006
Start of construction: 2006
Completion: 2007
Usable floor area: 199 m2
Enclosed volume: 1.166 m3
Outdoor area: 511 m2