Residence Extension

Residence Extension

23. July 2014

Residence Extension
2002

Arlesheim (Switzerland)

Architects
Christ & Gantenbein

Design team
Simon Businger, Michael Schneider

Structural engineer
Helmuth Pauli Ingenieure

Landscape design
Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten

Photographs
Roger Frei, Roman Keller

View of the old house from the new house enlargement

The owners of a 1920s mansion needed a more convenient access to their vast garden. Instead of reaching directly into greenery, the new access opens onto a garden room, defined by folded waved concrete walls. Its minimal interface allows the volume to develop as far as possible into the garden: it’s all about living in nature, a classical modern topic inspired by the traditional elements found on the site. 

Another view of the house enlargement

From the garden, the fragmented façades, partially hidden by trees, climbing plants and bushes, hide the extension’s real size, and this, combined with its unexpected shape makes it impossible to understand the volume’s exact proportions from nearby. The in situ concrete wall poured into waved fibre-cement boards quotes a petrified shabby garden shed. Inside, another camouflage strategy occurs.

Interior of the “new” house

All-encompassing wallpaper with a botanical pattern merges with the real views of nature. This traditional bourgeois motif refers to the turn-of-the-century atmosphere found in the residence: the darkening of the space emphasizes the light romantic garden. On the one hand, the thin aluminium frames of the large windows, which completely slide into the wall, suggest a modernist gazebo celebrating an open relationship between inside and outside. On the other hand, the clear opening cut inside the wall, a window, turning it into a classic garden pavilion.

Architectural plan

Residence Extension
2002

Arlesheim (Switzerland)

Architects
Christ & Gantenbein

Design team
Simon Businger, Michael Schneider

Structural engineer
Helmuth Pauli Ingenieure

Landscape design
Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten

Photographs
Roger Frei, Roman Keller

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