Abstract cube: Haus J

The architects responsible for designing a private residential house in Pforzheim opted for room-high windows to bring light and spaciousness into the elongated rooms. The two-story superstructure is equipped with folding sliding shutters as sun screens that lend it a monolithic appearance when they are closed.
 
House J in Pforzheim is built into a narrow, elongated plot that slopes down towards the south on the garden side. The architects of 'as Planungsgesellschaft' created ideal, natural light conditions in the two-story superstructure by combining a split-level house with a half-courtyard and room-high windows on the south side. Folding sliding elements are both a design feature and a functional element. They slide at a 90° angle to the window front and take up little facade space when they are parked.

The facade's horizontal slat pattern is mirrored exactly by the design of the shutters. When the folding sliding shutters are closed, the superstructure forms an abstract cube with a filigree structure. Opening the shutters dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior.

The architects chose the Hawa Frontfold 20 hardware for the folding sliding shutters. Its quiet gliding properties and ruggedness are ideal for the galvanized steel frames of the 20 leaves. The folding packets are mounted to the top tracks and bottom guide channels by pivot bearings, with no hinges and completely independent from window jambs.