Three Houses on Susenbergstrasse

The articulation of the building mass into three volumes takes place within the context of the small-scale, “fine-grained” housing structure in the immediate and extended upscale neighborhood on the Zürichberg. In contrast to the solitary houses and villas, the building volumes react to each other by means of their proportions and with respect to their openings.

The division into three buildings allows the apartments to be oriented in all four directions, which also provides natural light and ventilation for the bathrooms and kitchens. The apartments are laid out in such a way that the service spaces - wet rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and ancillary spaces - act as closed cores that generate a spatial articulation of the open “living space area”. The area thus defined can be easily subdivided into more conventional rooms or living spaces using large sliding doors. Nevertheless, this living area can still be understood as a continuous space aligned with the four points of the compass and correspondingly proportioned and formed.

The four-sided orientation of the apartments is differently accentuated depending on the varying location of the loggias to the east, south, and west. The loggias themselves are conceived as projections from the concrete façades that form narrow open-air rooms along the entire length and width of the building volumes.

The building structure is determined by the space-forming, load-bearing cores of the service blocks. A double-layered concrete façade completes the support framework. The exterior layer, made of in-situ concrete, forms the cantilevered loggias and the perforated parapets of the penthouses. The floor surfaces are made of concrete in various forms and finishes: poured concrete flooring for the living space areas, prefabricated polished cast stone tiles for the secondary rooms, and unpolished tiles for the terraces.

Mineral-based pigments, applied to the concrete with silicate, enable a highly matt, pollen-like “powdered” building surface. An additional intention was to attain the individualization of the three buildings by varying the colors used, while simultaneously emphasizing their compositional coherence. The final coloring was achieved in collaboration with the artist Adrian Schiess. The smallest building is painted a bright yellow, the largest, north-facing one is in grayish green with pink-painted loggias, and the medium-sized building is yellowish apricot with the west-facing façade painted light blue.

Location Zurich, Switzerland

Programme Three apartment buildings with nine apartments, six offices/studios, two activity rooms, basement garage

Competition 1998, 1st Prize

Planning/Construction 1998–2000

Client Zürcher Frauenverein (ZFV)

Gross Floor Area 2‘700 m2

Team GG Planning/Construction: Peter Steiner (Project Manager), Samuel Thoma
Competition: Michael Widrig

Site Management Generalunternehmung Göhner Merkur AG, Zurich

Landscape Architecture Zulauf Seippel Schweingruber, Baden

Structural Engineer Dr. Lüchinger + Meyer AG, Zurich

Colours Adrian Schiess, Zurich and Mouans-Sartoux, France

Photos © Heinrich Helfenstein

Awards Auszeichnung guter Bauten im Kanton Zürich 2001

Detached House Canton Zürich

The parcel is situated on the edge of the village’s single-family house zone, tangent to orchards and in view of the nearby lake. Strict local building codes are intended to preserve the pastoral quality of the area around the lake. The building is positioned near the northern boundary, which adjoins the agricultural area, and set parallel to the lake and to the land’s slope. This siting insures that all rooms have either a lake view to the north or a maximum amount of sunlight. A garden, defined by a high espalier and a gardening shed, defines the green area to the south between the neighbouring houses. The spatial structure within the house makes corridors unnecessary. On the ground floor, a dining room with a view towards the garden to the south is set in front of the kitchen and other rooms. This plan organisation is repeated on the upper floor: a foyer serves as the children’s playroom.

Within the slope prescribed by the building code, the roof is folded across the entire volume in a wave-like motion. Beginning at the garage, it ascends sharply in the area of the staircase. Above the attic, it flattens out again and then, on the far side of the gable, extends in a continuous surface towards the northwest, where it forms an eave against the side most susceptible to heavy weather. All of the ancillary spaces are thus located directly beneath the slope of the roof.

The house is constructed in single-unit solid insulating masonry. The wooden windows are mounted on the inside, forming deep, wood-clad embrasures. Folding shutters in the open position fit into the embrasures. In the closed position, the window openings give the impression of being “'barricaded” in a box-like way, so to speak. All woodwork, except for the sills, is painted red. The house's outermost protective layer is comprised of a mineral-based lime-cement stucco and untreated concrete tile, also made out of lime and cement. In the rain, the roof and façade turn dark gray and then dry out again like a watercolour painting.

Location Canton Zurich, Switzerland

Programme Single-family house

Commission 1992

Planning/Construction 1992–1994

Client private

Gross Floor Area 508 m2

Team GG Dieter Bachmann (Project and Construction Manager), Michael Widrig, Roberto Azzola, Eva Geering

Site Management Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architects, Zurich

Structural Engineer Aerni + Aerni, Zurich

Photos © Christian Kerez

 

Residential Complex Broëlberg I

The land around Broëlberg manor house consists of a 57,000 square meter park bordering onto open landscape in the community of Kilchberg. The land was zoned for single family houses and the initial project called for single storey detached homes, which would have entailed the development of the entire site. An alternative plan was devised in which controlled density of the inhabited plots made it possible to preserve the parkland character of the premises.

Six sites were selected – within clearly defined boundaries – for the construction of concentrated, volumetrically distinct three storey buildings with varying concepts of habitation; Broëlberg I was constructed in 1996.

The beautiful location with an unobstructed view of the Lake of Zurich, the countryside and the old town of Kilchberg, as well as the price of the land and the tax advantages of Kilchberg clearly predestined the site to accommodate high quality apartments.

A base, which is mainly used for parking, connects the three buildings to form one volumetric whole. The base itself forms a raised courtyard or podium which provides the entry areas for the buildings. Two of the buildings each accommodate four apartments and a penthouse, the third consists of a row of four units. In most of the apartments, the kitchen and dining area face the podium while the living room with its projecting conservatory and the bedrooms are orientated towards the landscape.

The podium itself – a large surface of poured concrete slabs, glass bricks and gravel – is subdivided into a public access area and semi-private outdoor seating by means of pavilion-shaped steel structures with plywood planking.

Large windows, like huge eyes, are indicative of the luxurious setting, as they afford a magnificent view of the lake and the surrounding parkland. The windows have no external bars or railings. A broad aluminium frame, somewhat like a cornice, encases the blinds, guide rails and wooden window frames. The free distribution of the floor-to-ceiling openings responds to the different types of apartments. The aluminium clad facades of the penthouse apartments are set back to allow the creation of roof terraces. The main facades consist of masonry with exterior insulation and a fine, evenly coloured stucco that encases the building like a smooth skin.

The dark brown of the outside walls enhances the volumetric appearance of the structure, evokes ploughed fields, tree trunks and anonymous agricultural buildings, and also establishes a connection with the soft, organic structure of the facade. In close collaboration with the artist Harald F. Müller, the brown tone was selected and juxtaposed with the light orange walls of the courtyard, generating intense colouring in this space that varies with changes in the natural light. The orange and brown tones are related: brown being a darker form of orange, and orange being a brighter form of brown. The colours are mutually intensified where they meet at the edges of the buildings, while their effect on flat surfaces is extremely distinctive. The brown tone has a calming, integrating, natural, reserved and yet handsome feel to it as opposed to the shrill, artificial, alien, and blissfully beautiful feel of the orange. The glazing reflects the landscape, the surrounding buildings and the sky, while the finely grained coloured stucco has a matte appearance. These two opposites result in an interplay, which reacts intensely to different light conditions.

Location Kilchberg, Switzerland

Programme 2 apartment buildings with 5 flats each, 4 terraced single-family houses, central courtyard, underground car park

Planning/Construction 1990–1996

Client Dr. Otto P. Haab, Küsnacht

Gross Floor Area 4’097 m2

Team GG Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architekten, Zurich
in collaboration with Esther + Rudolf Guyer Architects, Zurich
Collaborators: Matthias Stocker (Project Manager), Ivana Vallarsa, Andrea Roth

Landscape Architecture Neukom & Neukom Landschaftsarchitekten, Zürich

Structural Engineer Aerni + Aerni Ingenieure AG, Zurich

Electrical Engineer Bühler + Scherler AG, Chur

Building Services Engineer 3-Plan Haustechnik AG, Winterthur

Signage Trix Wetter, Zurich

Colours Harald F. Müller, Öhningen, Germany

Photos © Heinrich Helfenstein
© Harald F. Müller

Replacement of Hangenmoos Housing Estate

A new housing development on the Hangenmoos site in Wädenswil replaces a predecessor from the 1960s. The elongated three-hectare plot lies adjacent to the historical town centre and is characterised by the orientation towards Zugerstrasse and the sloping terrain to the west.

With the free placement of the buildings in a park-like area, the dense residential development makes reference to the idea of the garden city. The arrangement of the buildings is defined by various factors: the terrain profile, the orientation of the apartments, the view of the lake, the neighbouring buildings and the busy road. Themes such as the continuous, differentiated outdoor space, staggering of volumes, framed and panoramic views determine the composition of the buildings.

Three residential typologies and different apartment contribute to the diversely mixed housing project, which is being realised in stages.

The area is separated from the busy Zugerstrasse by slim, staggered buildings. Here the staircases are arranged along the facade, the living and dining rooms are oriented on both sides, while bedrooms and balconies only face the quiet park.

Placed behind, on the rising hillside and along the quieter Holzmoosrütistrasse, are five to seven storey buildings. Their orientation is guided by the terrain and the view of the lake. These large and prominent structures form the backbone of the new development and have the highest density. Three to six apartments are grouped around an internal access core on each floor. The larger apartments are laid out around a corner or as dually oriented types, the smaller ones face the lake on one side. Despite their limited floor area, a variety of inside and outside views give the apartments depth and generosity. Together with the lower blocks on Zugerstrasse, the large building volumes form a differentiated green space with a network of pedestrian paths.

In the buildings of the third typology, four apartments are planned per floor. The two five-storey buildings are aligned parallel to the terrain’s contour lines and offset from one another. Their cross-shaped floor plan with an internal circulation core offers well-lit and spacious apartments with openings on three sides.

The arrangement and composition of the volumes create a complex of related building structures, which form a whole despite the varied conditions of the site. Multiple visual connections and views open up the outdoor spaces, helping to achieve the intended density with a site-specific scale.

Location Wädenswil, Switzerland

Programme 10 building volumes,
285 apartments with 1.5–5.5 room apartments,
1 shared apartment for assisted living Foundation Bühl,
1 double kindergarden, 1 day care center,
7 office spaces

Competition 2-phases
2014, 1st Prize

Planning/Construction 2015–2021–2023

Client Hangenmoos AG, Wädenswil

Gross Floor Area 59‘650 m2

Team GG Planning/Construction: Christian Maggioni (Team Manager), Daniela Schadegg (Project Manager), Franziska Bächer, Stefanie Bittig, Christoph Dober, Andy Gratwohl, Dana Hemmi, Leyla Ilman, Lilla Kis, Christoph Lay, Carlo Magnaguagno, Anne Spiegler, Lukas Taller, Urh Urbancic, Philippe Volpe
Competition: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Rodrigo Jorge, Andy Gratwohl, Leyla Ilman
Competition Revision: Stefan Thommen (Team Manager), Thomas Möckel, Leyla Ilman, Christoph Dober, Milica Vrbaski

Site Management Hotz Partner AG SIA, Wädenswil

Landscape Architecture Commissioned Study: Studio Vulkan Landschaftsarchitektur GmbH, Zurich
Planning: vetschpartner Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zurich

Structural Engineer WaltGalmarini AG, Zurich

Electrical Engineer Enerpeak AG, Dübendorf

Building Services Engineer PZM Zürich, Zurich

Building Physics Engineer Braune Roth AG, Binz

Fire Safety Enerpeak AG, Dübendorf

Traffic Engineer Enz & Partner GmbH, Zurich

Colours in cooperation with Harald F. Müller, Singen, Germany

Model Zaborowsky Modellbau, Zurich

Photos Philip Heckhausen, Zurich

Railway Station Baar with shops, offices and apartments

Location Baar, Switzerland

Programme Construction of a mixed use development on the railway site: Railway infrastructure, retail space, offices, apartments, underground parking

Competition 2004, 1st Prize

Planning/Construction 2004–2008

Client Total Complex: Migros-Pensionskasse, Zurich
Public Square: Municipality Baar
Railway Infrastructure: SBB Swiss Railways, Lucerne

Gross Floor Area 6`500 m2 (above ground)

Team GG Planning/Construction: Pit Brunner (Team- and Project Manager), Mathias Brühlmann, Alex Zeller, Ingo Brinkmann
Competition: Mathias Brühlmann, Ulrike Horn

Total Contractor Halter Generalunternehmung AG, Zurich

Landscape Architecture Vetsch Nipkow Partner, Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zurich

Structural Engineer ARP André Rotzetter + Partner AG, Baar

Electrical Engineer Mosimann & Partner AG, Affoltern am Albis

Building Services Engineer Hans Abicht AG, Zug

Building Physics Engineer Wichser Akustik & Bauphysik AG, Zurich

Signage Peter Spalinger, Atelier für Gestaltung, Bremgarten

Colours Adrian Schiess, Zurich and Mouans-Sartoux, France

Photos © Lucas Peters

Awards Auszeichnung guter Bauten im Kanton Zug 2006–2015, Anerkennung

Résidence du Pré-Babel

The construction of apartment blocks of varying heights and different standards on the former Pré-Babel sportsground and park site pursues the idea of concentrated interventions, aimed at retaining as much open green space around and between the buildings as possible.

The first building phase, Pré-Babel, comprised three apartment blocks 1, 2, and 3 with three stories each, offering a total of twenty-eight condominiums for the high-end market segment. For the second phase, Résidence du Parc de Grange-Canal, three taller buildings with standard apartments were planned, also including subsidized housing in accordance with a special stipulation in Geneva’s building regulations. Finding a common architectural language and similar housing typology for all three categories was one of the challenges in developing this park site.

The siting and shape of the buildings create external spaces that are either dotted with trees or left open as lawns. Each apartment type benefits from windows on three or four sides, with views of the expanses of lawn and groups of trees in the park.

The access paths to the buildings 1, 2, and 3 wind through the park and lead to slightly sunken entrance areas. To keep traffic away from the park, the driveways to the garages run underneath it. The entrance hall can be accessed both from the park and directly from the garage. Polished chrome steel parapets open up this space optically, as does the light gray flooring of terrazzo and cast stone incorporating marble chips. The front doors to the apartments are made of dark oak with an equally wide illumination panel to one side. Exposed concrete walls form a contrast to the refined materials used in the staircases to lend the whole an appropriate everyday quality.

The naturally-lit staircases provide access to two or three apartments and one studio on each floor. The apartments have spacious floor plans and a generous ceiling height of 2.7 meters. From each apartment’s entrance area, the space is divided into two main zones: a daytime area with kitchen, dining room, living room, and study, and a nighttime area consisting of bedrooms with connecting bathrooms and dressing rooms. Each unit has a covered balcony and an additional winter garden. One apartment on the top floor of each building has its own private access to the large roof terrace with pavilions.

The building volumes with their composition of horizontal and vertical prefabricated concrete elements are almost classical in appearance. Horizontal gray bands are combined with yellow vertical elements of varying widths, which reference the coloring of the sandstone buildings in Geneva. Sliding windows with aluminium frames alternate with the yellow concrete elements. Reflective glass parapets intensify the play of mirrored trees in the windows and also amplify the impression of the façades forming a ‘geometric fabric interwoven with silver strands.’

Location Geneva, Switzerland

Programme Three residential buildings with 24 individually owned apartments in total (3–7 room apartments with 132–339 m2), 4 studios, underground parking with 60 parking spaces

Competition 2004, 1st Prize

Planning/Construction 2004–2008

Client Frontimmo SA, Chêne-Bougeries, Geneva

Gross Floor Area 11‘053 m2

Team GG Planning/Construction: Gilles Dafflon (Project Manager), Matthias Clivio, Christine Jahn, Andréanne Pochon, Pieter Rabijns, Katja Schubert, Michael Wagner
Competition: Gilles Dafflon, Katja Schubert

Site Management Roberto Carella Architectes, Geneva

Landscape Architecture Schweingruber Zulauf Landschaftsarchitekten, Zurich

Structural Engineer Fiechter Ingénierie SA, Chêne-Bourg

Electrical Engineer ECE SA, Bernex

Building Services Engineer Ryser Eco Sàrl, Genf and Mike Humbert, Geneva

Photos © Joël Tettamanti

Résidence du Parc de Grange-Canal

The buildings of the Résidence du Parc de Grange-Canal (Houses 40, 42, and 38) are conceived as seven- to nine-story high-rises. They contain eighty condominiums with regulated sales prices as well as fifty state-subsidized rental apartments in House 38, which conform to a simpler standard (with fit-out undertaken by Cerutti Architectes ). These are supplemented in House 40 by small furnished units. In these buildings, like those in the first phase of the project, every apartment has a roofed balcony with a winter garden, while each penthouse has a roof terrace. The yellow-pigmented concrete shell is not designed as a double construction here, but is instead made up of thermally insulated sandwich elements. Rhythm is lent to the façades by black-painted wood-aluminum windows with integrated parapets.

Location Geneve, Switzerland

Programme House 40 and 42: two residential buildings (7–9 stories), 79 individually owned apartments, with 16 studios / 1-room apartments, penthouses with private roof terraces House 38 (Cerutti architectes) : 50 social housing

Competition 2004, 1st Prize

Planning/Construction 2007–2012

Client Frontimmo SA, Chêne-Bougeries

Gross Floor Area 22’431 m2 (House 40 and 42)

Team GG Planning/Construction House 40, 42:
Markus Seiler (Team Manager from 2008), Gilles Dafflon (Team Manager until 2008), Martin Schwarz (Project Manager from 2011), Vanessa Tardy-Klikar (Project Manager 2008–2011), Eric Sommerlatte, Christine Jahn, Karla Pilz
Planning application Houses 38, 40, 42:
Gilles Dafflon, Andréanne Pochon, Karin Winklmann, Pieter Rabijns, Sebastian Beck, Marc Faber
Competition:
Gilles Dafflon, Katja Fröhlich

Contact architects Detail Planning/Construction Building 38: Cerutti architectes, Vésenaz

Site Management House 40, 42: Cerci SARL
and AML Immo Conseils SA, Plan les Ouates, Geneva

Landscape Architecture Preliminary Project: Schweingruber Zulauf, Zurich
Execution: Jacquet SA, Geneva

Structural Engineer ESM & Fiechter Ingenieries SA, Geneva

Electrical Engineer DSSA Dumont Schneider SA, Plan-les-Ouates

Building Services Engineer Enerlink, Geneva

Building Physics Engineer AAB - J. Stryjenski & H. Monti SA, Geneva

Fire Safety Protectas SA, Département Conseil & Ingénierie, Grand-Saconnex

Interior Design Condominiums: Yvan Prokesch, Gigon / Guyer

Photos © Thies Wachter

Housing Development Entrepôt Macdonald

In the northeast of Paris, not far from the Parc de la Vilette, housing blocks, offices and shops have been erected on the structure of a large scale former warehouse. The “Entrepôt Calberson-Macdonald“ was built in 1969 by architect Marcel Forest alongside the railway line, today with its striking concrete structure and length of more than 600 metres it provides the outline conditions for an extension and increase in urban density.

The new buildings were erected above the existing structure by the 15 architects offices involved in the project, working within the framework of the urban planning guidelines. The existing building with its characteristic elongated facade facing onto the boulevard has been preserved for the most part and now forms a plinth that links the entire ensemble. To provide the natural light needed the central area of the 80-metre-deep building was demolished down to the level of the roof slab to the continuous ground floor and was replaced by a planted courtyard.

Gigon/Guyer were commissioned to build 84 social housing apartments in the eastern part of the site. The building along the Boulevard Macdonald is oriented north-south and has eight floors, two of which are part of the existing building. Working within the urban constraints of the overall project and the possibilities offered by social housing, the aim was to develop this project as an independent piece of architecture employing a variety of different housing typologies.

The elongated main building and the two vertical courtyard buildings attached to it together form a kind of comb-like plan, with two internal circulation cores positioned at the points of intersection. On the garden side this form helps to articulate the outdoor space, while at the same time creating a facade with a greater length, which can be bent to give the apartments optimal south-east or south-west orientation and which permits a variety of different floor plans. The smaller apartments are single-facing, the larger ones are oriented in two directions, with the kitchen and living room looking onto the quiet courtyard. In the attached elements the ground floor level apartments are two-storey, face the courtyard and have private gardens. The duplex apartments on the two uppermost floors have roof terraces and bedrooms at roof-top level.

Towards the courtyard the facades and the balconies are bent differently in relation to each other and respond to the various apartment types. In this way the design of the facade continues the theme of interlocking indoor and outdoor space found in the main volume. The facade is clad with shiny aluminium sheeting with slender corrugations, which, depending on the light, can make a very different impact and gives the building its lightness. The impression of transparency is strengthened by perforating the parapet  panels. These form a continuous band across the entire length of the building, on the boulevard side they are continued in the middle floors, emphasizing the facade’s horizontal structure. In front of the balconies the perforated elements fold outwards, screen the French windows and allow the red coat of paint to shimmer through.

On the boulevard side the master plan envisages a facade articulated in horizontal, crystalline and mineral layers – with a striking frame made of lightweight concrete elements that binds the three uppermost floors together. The ground floor is glazed, the materiality of two plinth levels with the wide horizontal bands and finely articulated elements is defined by the existing concrete, which has been carefully renovated. The “infill” of the concrete frame that surrounds the three top floors consists of a finely made vertical mesh of gold anodized profiles with recessed windows and closed areas, as a reference to the horizontal divisions in the concrete plinth. At the level of the second and third floors a large city window opens up the block, offering a view into and out of the internal courtyard and of the lively boulevard.

Coordination architects/Masterplan:
FAA+XDGA / Floris Alkemade et Xaveer de Geyter Architects, Arge, Paris, France

Location Paris, France

Programme 84 social housing apartments, 1–5 rooms (Retail space on the ground floor)

Commission 2008

Planning/Construction 2008–2015

Client SNC Paris Macdonald Promotion, Paris, France
S.A.S. ICADE CAPRI, Paris, France

Gross Floor Area 10‘855 m2

Team GG Caspar Bresch (Team Manager until 2010), Pieter Rabijns (Team Manager from 2011), Martin Schwarz (Project Manager), Eric Sommerlatte

Contact architects DVVD Ingénieurs – Architectes - Designers, Paris, France

Site Management Vinci, Paris, France

General Contractor Vinci, Paris, France

Landscape Architecture Michel Desvigne, Paris, France

Cost Planning/Scheduling Arcoba, La Plaine Saint Denis, France

Structural Engineer Arcoba, La Plaine Saint Denis, France

Building Services Engineer Arcoba, La Plaine Saint Denis, France

Acoustical Engineer Acouphen, Pusignan, France

Photos © Philippe Ruault
© Cyrille Weiner

Address 193–199 Boulevard Macdonald, 75019 Paris

Résidence «Le Corylus»

Multistory residential housing in several price categories has been built on the former sports fields and park to the east of Lake Geneva. The project was completed in three phases: Pré-Babel, Grange-Canal and most recently Le Corylus. The property is situated in one of the communities on the outskirts of Geneva, which are short of living space because of the steadily growing population in city. The new buildings follow the idea of focusing the density of housing to provide open green spaces and as many trees as possible.

The first building phase, Pré-Babel, consists of three buildings of three stories each, comprising 28 high-end condominiums. In the second phase, Résidence du Parc de Grange-Canal, three high-rise buildings of seven to nine stories each accommodate 80 standard condominiums and 50 subsidized apartments. The third phase, Corylus, is a four story building with 12 condominiums and four offices on the ground floor. The layout of the buildings ensures daylight and views of the park from several sides. The apartments all have covered balconies with glazed winter gardens. In some cases, duplex and penthouse apartments with terraces have been built on the roofs. The three phases are distinguished through differences in the design of the entrance halls and staircases. In Corylus, the end-to-end entrance halls with open, staggered staircases are illuminated from both sides. Light terrazzo floors and fair faced concrete contrast with the dark, oiled metal of the doors and balustrades. The atmosphere is complemented by light fixtures above the entrances and a vertical wall section along the flight of stairs painted in gold.

The composition of prefabricated, horizontal and vertical concrete elements gives the buildings a classical look. Horizontal gray bands of concrete are combined with yellow vertical elements of varying widths, echoing the color of the sandstone used in the city of Geneva. The yellow pigmented, concrete sandwich elements are thermally insulated. Dark windows of wood and metal and glazed balustrades lend rhythm to the façades. The shared architectural idiom gives the overall ensemble of different residential typologies a distinctive identity of its own.

Location Geneva, Switzerland

Programme 12 condominiums, 4 offices groundfloor, underground parking

Planning/Construction 2013–2017

Client Idel Immobilier SA / Rue Etienne-Dumont Immobilier SA / Soplaim SA represented by Frontimmo SA, Chêne-Bougeries

Gross Floor Area 4‘730 m2

Team GG Consortium
Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architects, Zurich
Yvan Prokesch Architecte, Geneva
Pieter Rabijns (Team Manager), Damien Andenmatten (Project Manager), Martin Schwarz (upto and including provisional execution)

Site Management AML Immo Conseils SA, Les Acacias

Landscape Architecture Jacquet SA, Geneva

Structural Engineer Fiechter Ingénierie SA, Chêne-Bourg

Electrical Engineer Dumont Schneider SA, Plan-les-Ouates

Building Physics Engineer AAB, Geneva

Fire Safety Haldi Sarl, Carouge

Photos © Joël Tettamanti
Interior: Yvan Prokesch

Remodeling of a Farmhouse

The nineteenth-century farmhouse had been extended and remodelled multiple times. In its current residential use, it was to receive another update. Architects and client explored several possibilities from gentle reconstruction to far-reaching, contrasting adaptations, from new wood panelling to load-bearing timber ceilings, from retrofitted traditional box-type windows to modern metal window frames with insulating glazing. This entailed a careful evaluation of the complex building fabric, energy and conservation aspects, and substantial structural renovation, motivated not least by the pest infestation of existing beams and panelling.

Besides the former farmhouse, the existing buildings include a large barn and detached subsidiary structures. The farmhouse core, with massive stone walls and an attractive vaulted cellar, was enlarged to its present-day size in 1943. In the late 1980s, a south-eastern annex under the extended roof was remodelled as a sheltered sitting area with a fireplace, and a squat balcony was added beneath the roof projection. The house was also fitted with central heating and additional fir wood panelling. In the current update, the outer walls and the existing roof structure have been preserved, but the central load-bearing wall had to be replaced to ensure earthquake resistance. Instead a three-dimensional structure in fair-faced concrete has been inserted with openings and recesses for closets and a fireplace including the chimney, which replaces the former stove.

The kitchen space now extends across two storeys. It receives additional zenithal daylight through a large roof window that pierces the attic with a funnel-shaped reveal. A concrete bridge crosses the tall space and connects the bedrooms in the upper storey. The kitchen is a “stone room”, featuring fair-faced concrete surfaces, rendered walls and a floor of fragmented concrete paving. The surrounding rooms are conceived as wooden inserts, in analogy to the previous interior fit-out. Floors and walls are made of untreated, solid fir boards.

The outer walls were provided with interior insulation and two new, ample window openings. Three of the existing openings were enlarged and slightly repositioned, but the majority was left unchanged. The windows themselves were “reconstructed” in an unusual way: Traditional storm windows with wooden frames and bars were mounted in the old and new stone reveals. In contrast, the inner windows have insulated glazing in slender, black-brown steel frames. Dark sheet metal covers the deep interior reveals. The wooden shutters were refurbished and also added to the new windows.

A contrasting texture was introduced where the façade rendering had to be renewed or supplemented – coarse wet dash rendering on the smoothly finished sides, and fine stucco on the façades with rough existing rendering. Wooden slats, stained in brown, replace the previous wooden gable cladding to the southeast. Set with wider gaps, the slats also appear on the reconstructed, but lowered balcony, and on the formerly glazed patio, which thus reclaims the impression of an annex.

The garage was reconstructed with raw, load-bearing composite wood panels. Here, too, the walls are covered with vertical, dark brown wooden slats instead of the former fibre-cement cladding. The battens and counter battens remain untreated beneath the corrugated metal roof. A fossilized footprint in the form of a concrete slab testifies to the former chicken coop and pigsty and now serves as a summertime terrace in the middle of the meadow.

Location Canton Aargau, Switzerland

Programme Residential building

Commission 2014

Planning/Construction 2015–2017

Client private

Gross Floor Area 402 m2

Team GG Christian Maggioni (Team and Site Management), Franziska Bächer (Project Manager)

Site Management Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architekten, Zurich

Cost Planning/Scheduling Annette Gigon / Mike Guyer Architekten, Zurich

Structural Engineer Bänziger Partner AG, Baden

Electrical Engineer Enerpeak Salzmann AG, Dübendorf

Building Services Engineer Polke, Ziege, von Moos AG, Zurich

Building Physics Engineer BAKUS Bauphysik & Akustik GmbH, Zurich

Photos © Roman Keller