It seems appropriate that Modern architecture should appear in Grossburgwedel, Germany—an enclave in a medieval region that has demonstrated progressive leanings over the course of its long history. The Lower Saxony town of 22,000, just 12 miles north of major hub Hannover, is the perfect suburb for  cultured city workers to build their dream house—which is exactly what architect Susanne Nobis’s clients asked her to do. The very private clients, a couple, knew of Berg, Germany–based Nobis  and appreciated her spare, sleek aesthetic. They asked her to design a house on a site of meadows, fields, and an old oak grove with 40 trees forming an allée leading into a wide, open space. The clients had a single program requirement: “they asked me to design a home where they could live with, and in, nature,” Nobis recalls.

The result is a 3,660-square-foot single level house that fluently connects with the surrounding landscape. The architect called for exterior walls of glass, water jet-cut CorTen steel, and concrete, hoping to play off the colors of the old trees and the area’s traditional clinker-brick construction. Both sides of the main entry hall run north to south, and house art and a large skylight that runs the entire length of the space, and provides ample daylighting. “The inner workings of the house are enhanced by variations of natural light,” says Nobis. “The extent of floor-to-ceiling glazing, as well as lots of cross ventilation, really allow for sweeping views and a life in nature.” Adding to that life in the landscape, the house has steel beams that originate from a parapet wall and jut out into a landscaped garden terrace. These beams have sun screens made of lath, which support the glass shed construction that surrounds the terrace and covers the entrance area. These beams also bear the load of the trapezoidal carport roof.