Site
The site is located in Studen, a rural village outside Zurich, close to the Einsiedeln Abbey. The house’s short dead-end street abuts an old sawmill, and fronts onto the slow-moving Sihl River. The flat site is surrounded by a small residential village ringed by farms, protected forests and cross-country skiing trails.
Client
The clients are two professionals with a young child, who have roots in both Switzerland and Spain. They relocated from an apartment in Zurich to live closer to nature, and to be part of the farming and skiing community. They plan to work from home, so asked for an open and flexible house, with little moments of privacy. Their requirements were for a house with three bedrooms, a potting shed for their extensive garden, and a carport for vehicles and bicycles, all under one roof.
Design
Local zoning requires that attached carports or garages have a lean-to shape adjacent to typical two-storey massing, to reflect the existing buildings in the village. This house’s design takes these rules seriously –but not literally–, connecting these two elements under one asymmetrical angled roof that effortlessly sheds winter snow while admitting lots of daylight into the front and back of the house. The form of the roof is meant to recall the nearby sawmill.
This house’s front façade is solid, so the entrance can face the side for more privacy. Living spaces are located at the ground floor, with three bedrooms on the second storey under the tallest ceiling. A mezzanine loft is flooded with morning light from a large front-facing triangular window. It functions as a spatial pause midway between the two floors where the lean-to and two-storey massing meet. The ground floor is connected to the mezzanine with a concrete stair, and the mezzanine connects to the bedroom floor with a waxed steel stair.
The site has been treated as petite edible farm more than a suburban yard. The fencing, planter beds and plants relate to the farms surrounding this small village, keeping its oldest traditions alive. This new house is intentionally smaller than the neighbouring houses, but it is planned efficiently and constructed to achieve a high standard of finish. The ground floor walls, supporting beams and wood-burning fireplace are all constructed with cast-in-place concrete, that are visually and viscerally dense. This conspicuously heavy base supports light larch prefabricated panels inside. Larch is also used as exterior cladding, where it will patina and fade in the harsh mountain climate. This house’s highly-insulated roof and wall panels and high-performance windows are built to a standard that exceeds local building codes, so much so that this project would qualify as a Passive House in Canada.
This house’s exterior is tightly restrained, reflecting both a Swiss and a Canadian sense of modesty and reserve. But the house’s inner world feels Spanish, and full of life. Its materiality and spatial variety are intentionally complex and human, to realistically allow anything and everything to happen.
Working and meeting online became normal in 2020, but it was rare while this house was being built. It was discussed, design and drawn through virtual communication only, juggling time zones, language barriers and foreign regulations. It highlights how effective words and clear ideas are the most important ingredients for architecture that is both specific and universal.
Photos: Sama Jim Canzian
