Vienna-based architecture firm OEOOO has transformed and expanded a disused farmhouse into the Hehl Tenne House, a warm and inviting multigenerational home wrapped in timber inside and out. Located in the rural outskirts of the Lower Bregenzerwald (Bregenz Forest) village of Lingenau, the original agricultural building had sat empty after the family farm shut down decades ago. The adaptive reuse project presented the perfect opportunity to not only revive the underutilized site for the next generation but also celebrate the region’s agricultural history.
Designed as a home for living and working, the Hehl Tenne House has repurposed the ground floor of the former barn into a joint workshop that shares space with the building service equipment. Work areas are also integrated into the other parts of the home, from the first-floor living/dining area to the sleeping zones on the top floor. The common areas, located where hay was once stored, feature tall ceilings and seamlessly connect to the outdoors via a covered terrace to the southwest.
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“The aim was to take up the unused spatial qualities of the former economic tract of a typical Bregenzerwald farmhouse and to identify the building in the sense of a multi-generational house,” the architects explained in a project statement. “In the generous cubature of the former threshing floor of the house, a compact, comfortable living space was created by means of replacement construction, which is closely related to the exterior space and the local building tradition.”
The “replacement construction” was built with a single-shell exposed concrete base and timber-frame construction insulated with wood wool. The environmental footprint of the home is reduced with the use of a wood log heating system that heats the entire home and is supplied with timber felled on the property. The roof is equipped with a solar hot water system.
Photography by Lukas Gaechter Photography via OEOOO
