Piertzovanis Toews GmbH

Erika and Willi’s Barn

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

Erika and Willi’s Barn

Piertzovanis Toews

MANUFACTURERS
Adler, Huguet, Velux, Xella

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Heinrich Toew, Ioannis Piertzovanis

CARPENTER
Holzbau Lüdke Gmbh

PROJECT DESIGN
Sophie Bastianutti

STRUCTURE ENGINEERING
Structure Engineering

JOINERY
Schreinerei Rehan

PHOTOGRAPHS
Simone Bossi

AREA
285 M²

YEAR
2024

LOCATION
Albisheim, Germany

CATEGORY
Houses, Renovation

Almost four years ago, we started an experiment. Erika and Willi had bought a barn, willing to carry out a major alteration by themselves.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

The financial means for the conversion were limited, as were the owner's craft skills. A sensitivity for architectural issues could not be assumed.

For both, the owner and the architects, this project has been an intense yet rewarding journey.

Located in a village surrounded by vineyards of Riesling and Chardonnay, the barn grew into an ensemble around an old mill from the 18th century.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

Although it has been altered several times, its overall layout remains largely intact, showcasing thick stonewalls, oak framework and clay roof tiles.

The renovation process began with a careful sandblasting of the wood, revealing its original grain and hue, and learning about the different grades of quality and damage within the structure.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

The L-shaped room under the huge roof was originally used to store hay. This central space retains its height differences and the warped roof trusses.

It is now characterized by four differently colored houses in the house - the yellow loggia, which appears like a glass house on the inside, but whose interior belongs to the outside space; the green kitchen, which occupies a separate area; the pale red stairhouse and the lilac glass walkway to the courtyard.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

The new bedrooms are located at the two far ends of the L, leaving the central big space completely open. As the barn is a listed building, new openings were hardly possible.

Natural light fills the room mainly through the new skylight that stretches along the whole length of the building.

Inner windows, larger than the existing openings allow the rough old brickwork to become part of the interior atmosphere.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

Other than the heating and the windows, every single step was carried out by the owners themselves, based on carefully prepared illustrated step-by-step manuals.

Confusions, sometimes almost reminding of Buster Keatons chaotic self-building slapstick »One Week« were part of the game.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi

But even if they seem to be inherent in such a build-after-instruction process, it turned out that with time and patience a luckier outcome than the destructive ending of the movie has been possible.

From laying the first quarry stones centuries ago to photographing and manually printing the images, the process has been a celebration of handcraft, highlighting its irregularities and cracks shaped by time and hand.

Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi


Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi


Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi
Erika and Willi’s Barn
© Simone Bossi


Erika and Willi’s Barn
West Elevation
Erika and Willi’s Barn
North Elevation
Erika and Willi’s Barn
East Elevation
Erika and Willi’s Barn
South Elevation
Erika and Willi’s Barn
Cross Section
Erika and Willi’s Barn
Longitudinal Section


Erika and Willi’s Barn
Ground Floor Plan
Erika and Willi’s Barn
1st Floor Plan
Erika and Willi’s Barn
Site Plan
Erika and Willi’s Barn
Site Plan

Piertzovanis Toews GmbH
T +41 61 5114440
Piertzovanis Toews GmbH
Hirzbodenweg 30, 4052 Basel, Switzerland