The design for the holiday house at Hof Ahmen originates from a seemingly simple yet essential question: How can a unique, listed historic farmstead be complemented, how can a new building be integrated into the site’s “genius loci,” while at the same time developing an independent architectural language for the new structure.

As an ensemble, Hof Ahmen is defined by a rectangular courtyard arrangement surroun ded by permanent grassland, divided by the region’s characteristic hedgerows (“Knicks”). At the center of this rectangle stands the listed, thatched main house, framed by lush, historically grown trees. To the east of the main house are the freestanding roofs of the sheep barn, which was built in 1990 as an open timber structure. Its proportions and roof form follow the typology of the region’s characteristic “Drempel barns.

The holiday house extends this sequence of freestanding roof structures by introducing a fifth floating roof. The new building embraces the “genius loci” of the site and translates it into a contemporary architectural language. A floating platform inserted beneath the roof forms the main living space. This platform is fully glazed, allowing the boundaries between interior and exterior to dissolve. The inhabitant becomes an observer of nature, while the surrounding landscape turns into the true protagonist of the interior space — a continuous staging of the environment itself.

The ever-changing formations of clouds, the shifting seasons, and the grazing sheep define the atmosphere and character of the holiday house