Riedikon House : By Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

Uster, Switzerland
Gramazio & Kohler Architecture
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

From certain angles, the house resembles the gable-roofed cottages in the Swiss village of Riedikon, which dates back at least to the early 8th century, on the lake known as Greifensee, near Zurich. Come closer and you realize this house, with its pitched, tentlike roof, its strip window following the angled roofline, and its enclosing screen of 315 vertical spruce slats, rough sawn on the sides and CNC-milled on the front and back, is nothing like its neighbors. The 3,175-square-foot house, designed by Zurich firm Gramazio & Kohler Architecture and Urbanism, is a reinterpretation of the regional typology that, as the firm’s principal Matthias Kohler explains, “parametrically adapts form to context.”

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

The program was simple enough — a two-­bedroom, two-bath house for a young family with one small child. The polygonal volume is intended to blend in with neighboring structures and provide generous, contemporary, adaptable spaces, including a ground floor atelier with a separate entrance for an art studio. Although the brief remained constant throughout the design process, the architects found obtaining building permits for the open, light-filled spaces a challenge. “According to the building laws of the region, the maximum window size is 16 square feet, except for the exits to the garden,“ says Kohler. But, he adds, “he design of the slatted exterior allowed the screen to be legally interpreted as a wood facade, allowing large windows behind the wooden veil.”

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Inside the house, the veil, although visible, does not make you think you are behind bars. Gently, even comfortingly, shadows and sunlight play upon the interior concrete walls and black-painted asphalt floors.

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair--An asymmetrically gabled roof covering a polygonal volume of concrete and wood slats melds the vernacular with the abstract.

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

“The slats provide an important feeling of intimacy and warmth,” says the homeowner. “And the eye focuses on where it wants to look.” With only two entrance doors and one glazed sliding door that leads to the garden and pool, and with all windows concealed, the house is “quite radical in terms of visual accessibility,” says Kohler, explaining that although the slatted facade makes the structure look completely immured, the house is open to views and sunlight. 

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair--The window running under the eaves allows views from the second floor bath to the outdoors.

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Extensive built-in storage throughout — including a central utility/laundry room behind the kitchen, multiple cabinets and even a wardrobe in the kitchen, sliding shelves underneath the stair, as well as diverse niches and shelves embedded in the concrete walls throughout the house — eliminated the need for a traditional underground cellar. In this way, the architects note, the house becomes a functional, private sanctuary for the family in the winter while offering itself (along with the pool) as a gathering place in the summer.

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair--The house’s wood slats are slightly curved in profile and splay-cut at the edges to open up the view or restrict sightlines from within.

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

Photo © Courtesy of Walter Mair

ground floor plan--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

second floor plan--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

elevation 01--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

elevation 02--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

section 01--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

section 02--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

section 03--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

section 04--drawing Courtesy of Gramazio & Kohler Architecture

The People Architect: Gramazio & Kohler Wasserwerkstrasse 129 8037 Zürich +41 44 350 21 25 +41 44 350 21 26 Collaborators: Raffael Gaus (project leader), Anya Meyer, Cristian Veranasi, Manuel Bader, Damaris Baumann, Gabriel Cuellar, Peter Heckeroth, Claudia Nasri, Silvan Oesterle Engineer(s): ibeg bauengineering GmbH , Uster Consultant(s): Planning: Thomas Melliger, Zürich Energy consulting: Raumanzug, Zürich Economy consulting: Archobau AG, Chur Programming: Ralph Bärtschi, Zürich Photographer(s): Walter Mair CAD system, project management, or other software used: several CAD systems, custom programming of the façade design and CNC production data

The Products Foundation: TIUS AG, Riedikon Superintendent: Müller Forch AG, Forch Façade and roofing: Buob Holzbau AG, Luzern Roofing: M. Kneubühler AG, Menznau Wood cladding: Blumer-Lehmann AG, Gossau Windows: Albert Marty AG, Richterswil Exterior doors and metalwork: LIPS MSM AG, Dietikon Gutters: H. Kreiner AG, Zürich Special proofing and insulation: Waldvogel AG, Uster Electricity: Daniel Fäh, Egg b. Zürich HVAC: Ganz Installationen AG, Volketswil Heating: KWT, Belp Carpentry: Lenzlinger AG, Uster Subflooring: Steinit AG, Zürich Painting: Max Schweizer AG, Zürich Sun shading: Griesser AG, Dietlikon Asphalt flooring: Weber-Asphalt AG, Zürich Floor sealing: AGF, Zürich Pool equipment: Gauka Schwimmbad, Zuchwil Gardening: Kohler Natur- und Energiegarten GmbH, Weisslingen Building cleaning: Swissclean, Wetzikon

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