The construction of the "Anton" prototype houses aligns with sustainable building ideals. For this reason, the Lux Architect + Cánovas Arquitectura team adopted an efficient and locally sourced production process: from the forest to the sawmill, to the nearby carpentry workshop, and finally to the construction site.
Assembled without glue or metal fasteners, Casa Anton II proposes a reversible and dismantlable building, in line with the principles of the circular economy.
Overall, the project employs a limited selection of authentic and simple materials. Wood is the main protagonist. The exterior is clad in hand-split larch wood shingles, designed to better withstand the elements. Inside, all wooden elements are made of untreated ash, crafted to high construction standards by a local carpentry workshop.
House Anton II by Lux Architect + Cánovas Arquitectura. Photograph by Jens Weber.
Project description by Lux Architect + Cánovas Arquitectura
House Anton II – Ecological Building as a System – A House Like a Piece of Furniture
A monolithic cube that reveals its true construction principle only within: outwardly angled supports on which visible coffered ceilings rest. The architectural design and the load-bearing structure are based on a grid with approximately 80-centimeter spacing. Adaptable in length and height, this serial principle is applicable to different variations – as a two-story building, like the seven-meter-high "House Anton II" in the quaint orchard of a small family near Augsburg. The digitally manufactured wooden structure of the building relies solely on connections that do not require glue or metal and is completely dismantable. Traditional knowledge merges with contemporary production techniques.
Entering the house through the garden, one arrives in the wardrobe area, from which the bathroom is accessible on one side, while the other side leads into the open living area. This area opens to the east towards the kitchen. The room, with a height of 2.30 meters, can be experienced along its entire length of 5 meters and over 6 meters at the coffered ceiling. Behind the kitchen wall, a single-flight staircase leads to the upper floor, which serves as a studio for sleeping, living, and working. The elevated space is oriented towards the east through a large opening that offers a view over the Schmutter Valley towards Augsburg.
Constructive Form Finding
The distinctive shape of the building emerged not only from the desire for a minimal footprint but also from constructive considerations. The 7 degree angle of the outward-tilted supports results in a wide overhang of the eaves, providing necessary shading for the large windows on the ground floor in summer and ensuring heat protection indoors. Additionally, the base of the wooden structure is protected from splash water by the wide overhanging eaves. In the upper floor, the steep roof with a 70-degree pitch envelops the approximately four-and-a-half-meter-high space.
Load-Bearing Structure as Furniture
All wooden elements – load-bearing structures as well as built-in furniture – are made of untreated ash and have been produced by a carpentry workshop in construction quality. The exterior walls and room delimitations of "House Anton" also serve as furniture: The space between the 60-centimeter-deep ribs of the load-bearing structure is efficiently utilized with built-in wardrobes and shelves. This results in a total usable area of approximately 80 square meters, providing storage space with a total volume of over 100 cubic meters area between the supports.
Throughout the building, the load-bearing structure is visible in the walls and ceilings. The individual components fit together without glue or metal elements, are disassemblable, and can be deconstructed: The supports are connected via dovetail joints, the beams of the coffered ceiling rest on the slanted supports, and the force-transmitting connection is created through wooden dowels at their intersection points. These also serve another function: with a vertical bore, they accommodate cable routing for indirect ceiling lighting.
Ash Trees from the Urban Forest
The project features a few, genuine, and pure materials with no formaldehyde-containing adhesives or galvanized metal connections, and untreated wooden surfaces: the commitment to sustainability and healthy living is reflected in the choice of materials made by both the architects and the building family. While the building showcases exterior weather-resistant hand-split larch wood shingles, the untreated ash with its silk-matte shimmering surfaces primarily shapes the interior – from the visible load-bearing structure to the doors, windows, floors, staircases, and the entire furnishings.
While it may seem unusual to construct a complete building from ash wood, this decision was made purely based on the client's wish: No extra trees should be felled for the house. The fact that ash trees had to be cut down in the nearby Siebentisch Forest for traffic safety reasons at the same time proved to be a fortunate coincidence. The traces of the past in the form of thumb-sized metal fragments in the wood from the time of the bombardment of Augsburg’s urban forest were also not questioned: "We take it as it is!" remained the family's decision.
This also enabled a production process with short distances – from the forest to the sawmill, to the nearby carpentry, and then to the construction site – aligning with the resource-saving building ideals of all involved.
Dismantlable Prototype House
Building in the spirit of a circular economy was central to the development of the "Anton" prototype houses: connections that can be dismantled, with only the connection to the foundation being bolted. This too is partly dismantable, as it is made not only from in-situ concrete but also constructed with concrete blocks from silo construction.
Although the house appears very unique and individual at first glance, "House Anton" has been designed and realized as a series house – with square or round basic shapes, clad with shingles, thatch, or metal, ranging from one to three stories – based on an inner, rational, and easily scalable grid, planned using traditional knowledge about valuable wood properties but digitally manufactured. The ecological house could already be widely reproduced today. The static proof is available.
