House Y
A modern perspective on a vernacular building style
Driving the process of
designing this iconic architecture as a central space in this Swiss village is
the wish to reach a high level of comfort, efficiency, and value preservation.
Its primary focus is comfortable living and working conditions for the users. A
high-quality building envelope and controlled air exchange play a major role in
the requirements.
The house takes the form of three connected horizontal volumes, attached one next to the other. It is a direct response to the shape of the site and its conditions. The form of the building reaches out tentacle-like and probes the greatest possible expansion of architecture on the site.
The house takes the form of three connected horizontal volumes, attached one next to the other. It is a direct response to the shape of the site and its conditions. The form of the building reaches out tentacle-like and probes the greatest possible expansion of architecture on the site.
Dietmar Leyk, cofounder:
‘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BY THE GOAL OF CREATING A CONTEMPORARY MIXED-USE BUILDING, A COHERENT MODERN LANGUAGE THAT ALSO DRAWS ON RECOGNISABLE HISTORICAL REFERENCES.’
‘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BY THE GOAL OF CREATING A CONTEMPORARY MIXED-USE BUILDING, A COHERENT MODERN LANGUAGE THAT ALSO DRAWS ON RECOGNISABLE HISTORICAL REFERENCES.’
The visual impact of the
architecture is highlighted by a surrounding continuous skin of black-glazed larch
wood slats. The staggered window bands emphasise the horizontal movement of
this translucent shell. From a distance, the architecture looks like a closed,
dark structure resting on a base of exposed concrete and glass. Seen up close,
the sharp contours dissolve through the horizontal permeability of the wooden
slats. Viewed directly from the front, the grey of the exterior façade behind
seems to dominate the black of the wood. Viewed from the side, the depth of the
façade alternates between anthracite and black.
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