VILLA SORAVIA MILLSTATT, AUSTRIA (2001-2006) COOP ...

VILLA SORAVIA MILLSTATT, AUSTRIA (2001-2006)
COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Planning:
Wolf D. Prix/COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Client:
Mag. Erwin Soravia, Vienna
Project Team:
Wolf D. Prix, Verena Boyer, Claudia Buhmann, Volker Gessendorfer, Ana
Claudia Gonzalez, Helmut Holleis, Paul Kath, Manuela Kaufmann, Volker
Kilian, Caroline Kufferath, Marc Paulin, Sigrid Steinwender, Irina Zahler,
Barbara Zeleny
Project description Villa Soravia Millstatt
Villa Soravia is located at the southernmost point of the resort area of Millstatt,
directly on the shores of the lake, Millstätter See.
This site previously held a building that was an addition to an existing hotel with
a nearly identical outline, as building regulations stipulated its basic
preservation. This outline determines the outer appearance of the four-story
villa on the small plot of land.
Our design is based on a new interpretation of the spa villa.
Dealt with as fundamental themes were, among others, the fluid transition
between interior and exterior and the extraordinary view of the lake afforded
from this spot.
Running to the second story is a footbridge that covers the boat docks, which
are integrated into the building. The footbridge acts as the villa’s horizontal
connection to the lake. The distinctively sloped tower, which cuts into the body
of the building, holds the vertical development of the upper living levels.

The openness of a free ground plan in the first floor is achieved by placing the
villa on a “table” of reinforced concrete, which separates the semi-public and
largely transparent spaces of this level from the private spaces on the upper
floors.
The minimal material concept, which calls for structural concrete in combination
with white painted wood and metal surfaces, evenly covers the façade and roof,
lending the building a monolithic character. The orientation of the joint pattern is
consciously designed to be anti-tectonic (sloped) and in this way counteracts
the outer form of the villa.