Living in harmony with nature

With a view of the Danube and mountains, entrepreneur Ernst Gugler lives in harmony with nature near Melk. The new building made from natural building materials is a special place where everyone who comes and goes here feels at home. An elementary component of this is the surface heating and cooling systems from Variotherm. 
 
Ernst Gugler's house is located on a hill in the small Lower Austrian village of Berging and blends harmoniously into the surrounding landscape. Built with natural building materials such as clay and wood, the house is an important retreat for the entrepreneur: 

“As an entrepreneur, I have a very restless environment around me all day long. Therefore, a place where I can calm down is very important to me. But I also wanted to create a place that inspires me and can be of use to other people and beings at the same time.” 

So it's no wonder that the plot on the edge of the forest on which the new building is located is bursting with biodiversity. The house itself consists of several levels, on which there are private living spaces as well as an open yoga and meditation room. The challenge was to create a house with a good climate in every season. This is because the levels should have different qualities: Cozy, warm retreats in winter and open, pleasantly cool rooms in summer. 
 Gugler worked together with the planner and expert for energy-efficient buildings Martin Rührnschopf. In a co-creative process, different variants were played through. In the end, they opted for the innovative and sustainable wall heating and cooling system from Variotherm. The house can now be both heated and cooled using a heat pump. The heating and cooling coils are located in walls that are plastered with clay. A particularly suitable combination that is also noticeable, as Gugler explains: 

“It's good to live here - both in winter and in summer. The surface temperature of the building is warm in winter and cool in summer. This makes it feel very comfortable and I'm very happy with it! And the heating costs are also sensationally low.” 

Anyone entering Gugler's house immediately feels a sense of homeliness and tranquillity, as well as a deep connection to nature. In harmony with the immediate surroundings, the house with its special atmosphere is a place with a high feel-good factor for all residents and visitors.