Gallery ︎︎︎
House Y
A modern perspective to a vernacular building style"The design is driven by the goal of creating a contemporary mixed-use building, a coherent modern language that also draws on recognisable historical references.”
Dietmar Leyk, principal and founder
The form and positioning of the architecture are a direct response to the site’s shape, the plot, and its conditions. The materiality is inspired by the surrounding historical buildings of Merenschwand, yet it reinterprets them in a contemporary manner. The horizontal articulation of ground and upper floors, along with the protrusions and recesses of the façades, are also typical for the area.
The Y-shaped floor plan of the architecture reaches out like tentacles, exploring the maximum possible expansion on the site. This extensive façade development creates an especially intense relationship between the interior and exterior spaces. The cantilevers extend both towards the wooded slope and overhang the parking area. They reach out as far as the local setback regulations allow, forming the covered entrance to the new Merenschwand post office and retail spaces. At the same time, these cantilevers emphasize the public presence along Bremgartenstrasse.
The building is clad in a continuous skin of black-stained wooden slats. The staggered arrangement of the ribbon windows highlights the horizontal movement of this high-quality enclosure. From a distance, the architecture appears as a solid, dark volume resting on a base of exposed concrete and glass. Up close, the sharp contours dissolve through the horizontal permeability of the wooden slats. Viewed head-on, the grey of the underlying external façade seems to dominate the black of the wood. From the side, the façade shifts in its depth between anthracite and black.
Merenschwand, Switzerland - Direct commission, completed
Consultant: Burlet & Partner AG, Mettmenstetten, Switzerland