The building, which can be read in the layout as two head buildings that are bound together axisymmetrically by a long overheight space, thus establishes two main axes. The first runs longitudinally through the building and can be read as a connecting element at its ends, where the more private spaces of the family members gather. The second, a type of light axis, invites the outside space orthogonally to the central living space.
The light mood of the forest and the color change of the lake thus become a daily spectacle through the adjacent terrace. This cross marks the central living space, which depicts the design essence of the project. The surfaces speak with a kind of forensic haptics, through which materiality is suspended in favor of a body and whose surfaces whisper a tectonic interpretation of the whole.
This distinction of the attic floor is also carried to the outside in a homogeneous steel facade whose windows, behind a perforated veil, emphasize the physicality, while towards the street they grasp the private spaces. The tectonic play of the surfaces, which are in a constant dialogue between inside and outside, continues in the facade where different types of plaster carry the program to the outside through their offset composition between base and surface.
Location: Säumerstrasse 32, 8800 Thalwil
Residential units: 3 units
Property type: Rental
Apartment sizes: 2.5–6.5 rooms / 88–375 m²
Status: Realized
Occupancy date: 2022
Client: Private
Architecture: HDPF