Half-timbered houses — 95 photos of modern houses and good projects

A bit of history

A house is a building built for living. With the passage of historical time, the requirements for housing increased, which led to the appearance of houses of different proportions and types of construction. In order to adapt to the environment, terrain and climate. Due to these factors, names are formed: castle, palace, villa, chalet, cottage, and so on.

For the medieval cities of Central Europe — the German states, in particular, the architectural model of the so-called half-timbered house is typical.

Fachwerk, in German, is a load-bearing wooden frame assembled from supports and beams connected vertically, horizontally and diagonally. The resulting spaces, of various shapes and sizes, were filled with adobe, brick, and sometimes wood. Then they were plastered flush with the beams, leaving the geometry of the frame structure visible, giving the latter also decorative properties.

Thus, there is a combination of functional and aesthetic motives. Both solutions are extremely successful: houses of this type have been standing for several centuries, and the elegant simplicity of the facades and walls is elegant and beautiful.

Photos of half-timbered houses have become widespread among those who have never seen them, along with images of other «beauties». Including in the form of wallpapers for PC screens. Which once again emphasizes the originality and even some fabulousness of these creations of human hands.

Modernity

Fachwerk began to massively revive. The reason for this is practicality plus the development of the building materials industry.

Modern projects of half-timbered houses visually have little in common with traditional ones, but the principle from which the name comes is the same — a visible wooden frame that stands out in color from the rest of the wall area.

The changes went in the direction of facilitating and simplifying the design, thanks to the quality of the materials used and fasteners.

The cell areas of the entire supporting structure have expanded, in other words, there are fewer elements. Diagonal braces, which played an important role in building the façade pattern and in reinforcing the frame, were no longer needed. Lost their functionality.

Glulam, which replaced solid logs, is much stronger and stronger, beams from this material need fewer supports. Fillers of interbeam spaces are not heavy bricks and clay, as in the old days, but light panels with all the necessary strength, insulation and energy-saving characteristics. There was no need for a deep and solid foundation.

Construction

For the customer, construction begins with viewing catalogs of half-timbered houses, on the website of the nearest company, or in the office itself. If you have your own project, the terms for adapting the existing developments to the wishes of the client are discussed.

The technology of a half-timbered house allows the implementation of any shape and shape, from simple and unpretentious to the most complex and bizarre. This also applies to the internal layout — the frame is voluminous.

The solidity of the structure is achieved by careful and tight fitting of the parts to be joined. This requires extreme precision in measuring and observing the distances and dimensions of the grooves and studs. Most often, this condition is achievable only with stationary equipment.

For this reason, it can be argued that the construction of a half-timbered house takes place on the production area of ​​a construction company.

At the customer’s site, the foundation is poured — a concrete slab 20-30 mm thick — and installed. In compliance with all sections of project documentation and construction rules — waterproofing, solidity, horizontal and vertical. The imported wooden parts of the frame, numbered for ease of assembly, are treated with protective substances and attached to the foundation.

This is followed by filling the openings of external walls and internal partitions, flooring and ceilings. Roofing, doors, windows, installation of heating and communications, finishing work, painting — and the process is finished. Stylish modern house ready in a short time.

Window to the floor. Or a glass wall

The features of modern architecture are straightforwardness, some even angularity, with a predominance of vast flat surfaces, and large windows. Fachwerk incorporates both of these directions.

Panoramic glazing of a half-timbered house is an integral part of the style, it just suggests itself. A full-wall window of a private house is an unusual phenomenon in the post-Soviet space, much attention is paid to describing the benefits and advantages.

First, it captures a lot of daylight. Secondly, the size of the room extends to the nearest trees, or to the very horizon, depending on the location of the house. And the opposite effect — the appearance becomes part of the interior.

In the conditions of a cottage village, only the facade remains glass, behind which are the living room, dining room and kitchen — common areas. The rest of the walls overlooking the fence or neighbors are deaf.

It is possible to locate the house in the depths of the site, with the exit of the species side to the personally equipped surroundings. Or a «turn» in the direction of the patio. There are many options — there would be a plot.

Glazing is made using frameless three-chamber double-glazed windows, the formula of which can be selected depending on the climate and geographical region. Tempered glass is usually installed on the outside, which is several times stronger than ordinary glass and is difficult to break. On the inside — sun-protection, or energy-saving glass. Protect from excessive heat in summer and heat loss in winter. From this point of view, a modern window can be of any size.

Situation

The interior decoration, or the interior of a half-timbered house, is selected taking into account the peculiarities of style — conciseness, simplicity, minimalism, the predominance of horizontal lines. Narrow, elongated hanging details of the situation, squat sofas leave room for a sense of freedom. Not bright, light, pastel colors prevail in the color scheme.

Fachwerk has a great future, without any doubt. Thanks to environmental friendliness, style, reliability, lightness and short implementation times.

Photo half-timbered houses