A big family under one roof

WIth those words, Philip Garbers, a timber engineer, describes his new home. Garbers is owner of Lignophil GmbH, an engineering office for ecological timber construction. He works in cooperation with Dammann-Haus, a small company designing and producing single-family wooden houses. Located in northern Germany, Damman Haus offers energy-efficient, tailor-made solutions. Although every house is different, most of them have gable roofs - often with VELUX windows. Garbers family house is also entirely made out of wood, a material, which the designer knows and likes best.

After the position of the roof openings was fixed, Philip Garbers redesigned the roof structure to match the window sizes, so no beams had to be cut.

With six people in the house, ventilation is an important topic. All VELUX roof windows in the attic can be opened and closed literally at the touch of a button.

Apart from this, there is no mechanical ventilation system; the family relies on keeping up intelligent airing habits. The kids are taught to keep the windows and blinds closed on a hot day, and how opening of all windows makes the stale air rise to the top and leave the house through the roof windows.