swiss

Swiss-based Celoria Architects have designed House C in the 'Alle Cantine' area in Mendrisio, Switzerland. It has the same volume as a previous house on the site and uses its foundations. The house stands with mountains and forest on one side and a valley leading to San Martino on the other. It is situated at the foot of a rocky wall in an area characterised by a row of houses and dominated by the Oratory of San Nicolao. The area is approached by a long, tree-lined avenue and features locally typical 'grotti' underground ventilation spaces.

Swiss architects Bearth & Deplazes have designed a 96-unit residential complex with a cloister surrounding three sides of a large garden in Austrasse, Chur, Switzerland. Named 'Vier Jahreszeiten' (Four Seasons), the development shields the courtyard garden from a nearby highway. The garden, set with marlstone, accommodates children playing, pedestrians and cyclists, while ample trees provide shade, and islands of shrubs and flowers that are inspired by Japanese gardens.

Swiss architects Allen + Crippa have designed 'House with a Curtain' in Grabs, Switzerland, within the Rhine Valley offering views of the Prealps. The house spans three floors including a basement, featuring identical floor plans inspired by traditional barn houses of the region. The front section accommodates living and dining spaces alongside a bedroom, while service areas at the rear encompass a bathroom, pantry, and staircase. Internally, partition walls serve dual purposes as built-in storage.

Swiss architects Deschenaux have designed a house adjacent to a forest in a neighbourhood of villas in Vuissens, a secluded village in Fribourg, Switzerland.  The house is oriented towards the forest and entered through an opening in a concrete wall. Following the topography of the site, a small entrance hall leads two steps down to the kitchen, which connects to a larger volume of the living room. The living room, with forest views through a wall of glazed doors, opens to a double-height loggia.

The Swiss architectural practice Bearth & Deplazes, based in Chur, has built House Schweizer-Schmid in the village of Ardez in the Lower Engadin valley, Switzerland. The house, with its exposed concrete exterior, is a contemporary interpretation of an Engadine house, traditionally characterised by large arch openings and deep, hole-like windows with funnel-shaped reveals. Photo by Juan Rodriguez. Bearth & Deplazes

Swiss-based architects Allen + Crippa have renovated and extended a fire-damaged house in Salez, Switzerland. The approach was to reuse a large proportion of the structure rather than demolish and rebuild, reducing the construction time and preserving an established garden. 

The exterior walls of the ground floor form a base for the new timber frame structure. The independent structure allowed for the creation of nine interconnected rooms separated by sliding doors.

Swiss architects Gautschi Lenzin Schenker have designed a building with six small apartments to replace a residential building in Aarau, Switzerland. The three-storey building comprises six 2.5-room apartments across three floors and an attic, with ancillary rooms in the basement. A covered area with space for bicycles leads to the ground floor, which is raised for flood protection.

Swiss architects Bearth and Deplazes have created Winery Obrecht at the eastern entrance to the village of Jenins in Switzerland. The architects have formed a courtyard by adding a new building to the 'assembly' of existing structures, which include the former 'Zur Sonne' inn and wooden stable, with later additions including an additional stable, a shed, and a barn.

Swiss-based Bolthauser Architekten has designed the high-rise H1 building on the Zwhatt site, in the Banhoff Nord development area of Regensdorf, near Zurich. The building is a response to a pavilion designed by artist Alexander Brodsky and is part of Peter Märkli's masterplan, which includes a second high-rise building designed by Märkli. The 24-storey, 75-meter tall building is constructed with a three-floor concrete 'table' supporting a timber structure above. The ground floor is accessible to the public and includes a bistro, while the next two floors comprise co-working areas. Above this, there are 150 apartments of various sizes, configured according to the timber structure.

Basel-based Swiss architects Brandenberger Kloter Architekten have created a primary school building on the existing Sonnhalde campus in the centre of Aarwangen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. Seamless in-situ concrete is used as the primary construction and facade material, in keeping with the existing 1960s buildings. A deep incision in the building at ground floor level marks the entrance, with a large entrance hall leading to the library, kindergarten and workrooms on the ground floor, and classrooms on the upper floors.

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have created 15,500 sq m of workshop, studio and research space for the Battersea campus of the Royal College of Art in London. The textured brickwork and the large north-facing clerestory windows of the studio building, together with the metal fins of the research building, create a distinctive identity for the campus. The building achieves a BREEAM Excellent rating and is designed to be robust, low maintenance and flexible. Photo © Iwan Baan. Herzog & de Meuron, Royal College of Art.