This house in northern Switzerland, by local architect Pascal Flammer, frames views of a vast rural landscape through round and rectangular windows, as well as through entire walls of glazing (+ slideshow).
Located between a wheat field and a thicket of woodland, House in Balsthal is an archetypal wooden cabin with a steeply pitched roof and overhanging eaves, but also integrates modern touches such as full-height glazing and flush detailing.
Pascal Flammer specified timber for the building's structure, cladding and joinery. Externally, the wooden surfaces are stained black, while inside the material is left uncoloured to show its natural grain.
Criss-crossing timber braces support the structure and are visible from both inside and outside.
The base of the house is sunken into the earth by 75 centimetres, allowing the surrounding ground level to line up with the bottom of windows that surround the building's lower storey.
"In this space there is a physical connection with the nature outside the continuous windows," explained Flammer.
A large fuss-free space accommodating a kitchen, living room and dining area occupies this entire floor. Cupboards built into the walls create an uninterrupted surface around the edges and can function as worktops, desks or seating.
While this storey features noticeably low ceilings, the bedroom floor above comes with angular ceilings defined by the slope of the roof. "The height defines the space," said Flammer.
The upper floor is divided up evenly to create three bedrooms and a bathroom. Each room has one glazed wall, but the round window also straddles two rooms to create semi-circular apertures.
"Whereas the ground floor is about connecting with the visceral nature of the context, the floor above is about observing nature - a more distant and cerebral activity," added Flammer.
A spiral staircase winds up through the centre of the building to connect the two floors with a small basement level underneath.
Dutch firm Wiel Arets Architects applied an intricate fritting technique to the glazed facade of this office complex in Zurich to give it the appearance of onyx marble (+ slideshow).
Located within a developing commercial zone outside the city centre, the 20-storey tower and five-storey annex were designed by Wiel Arets Architects to provide a new Swiss headquarters for financial services company Allianz.
Planning guidelines stipulate that all new buildings in the area must be clad in natural stone. But the architects chose to instead create the look of onyx marble to "allow the building to blend into its context while simultaneously maintaining its distinguished stance".
An abstracted pattern taken from the marble surfaces of Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion was used to frit the glass. This was achieved by building up composite layers of black and white dots.
"The original image of the onyx marble was rasterised, and from this two versions of the same image were created - one black and the other white," project architect Felix Thies told Dezeen.
"These two images were then patterned and fritted on the back side of two different layers of glass, separated by a distance of six millimetres," he explained."When viewing the facade from an angle, the reflections of the rasterised patterns appear ever-changing, in accordance with the angle of the sun."
A regular grid of windows breaks up the facade and each one contains a silver curtain between two layers of glass. These are controlled by computer to vary the level of shade they provide, adapting to different weather and lighting conditions.
The building's entrance is at the base of the tower and leads through to a central staircase that ascends from the main lobby through all 20 storeys. This is to encourage employees to interact with people on different floors.
Four enclosed bridges connect the tower with the adjoining annex. There are also voids in the floorplates to create double-height spaces between storeys.
"The Allianz Headquarters can be experienced as horizontal and vertical landscape of neighbourhoods," said the design team in a statement.
Internal heating and ventilation is provided from behind a panelled ceiling system. These panels are made from steel and perforated with a pattern derived from Swiss chalet ornamentation.
A cafe and restaurant is located on the fifth floor, while the level below accommodates rooms for client meetings. Employees can also take time out from work on a roof terrace dotted with Japanese maple trees.
A three-level car park unites the two buildings at basement level and provides space for up to 300 vehicles.
Here's a project description from Wiel Arets Architects:
WAA complete construction on the Allianz Headquarters in Zurich
Allianz Headquarters is a 20-storey tower and 5-storey annex, the latter capped with roof gardens of Japanese maples; these two components are interlaced by four enormous bridges
The Allianz Headquarters is a hybrid-office and the pinnacle of a masterplanned mixed-use district on the edge of Zurich's city centre. Comprised of a 20-storey tower and a 5-storey annex, these two components are externally linked by a series of four bridges, and vertically linked by numerous interior voids and staircases; as such, the Allianz Headquarters can be experienced as horizontal and vertical landscape of neighbourhoods.
Fluidly connected to the city centre by a multitude of public transportation options, the building encourages the blossoming of twenty-first century office culture, which demands flexibility in space and its use, via its hyper-hybrid programming that amplifies 'interiority'.
The entire lobby and ground floor are publicly accessible, ensuring a continuous animation throughout both, which compliments the adjacent public square. A central staircase rises from the lobby up and into the 20-storey tower, allowing employees to, if desired, meander throughout all levels of the office without entering its core.
A café and restaurant are located on the fifth floor, rather than within the lobby, which creates a buffer zone between public and non-public areas. A 'business centre' is located one floor below, and contains meeting rooms for use with external clients. This 'business centre' enables employees to meet with their guests, without the need for elevators.
This new district's masterplan mandated that all building facades be composed of natural stone, yet it was chosen to frit this building's full glass facade with an abstracted pattern of Onyx marble - from Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion - which allows the building to blend into its context while simultaneously maintaining its distinguished stance.
Each element of the facade contains a closed cavity system, in which an aluminium-coated silver curtain hangs, which fluctuates its degree of shading by responding to external environmental factors - a process administered by a computer controlled algorithm.
Interior heating and cooling occurs through a panelled ceiling system that utilises concrete core activation and concealed air ventilation. These 1.35 x 1.35 m panels are composed of 'crumpled' steel sheets into which a three-dimensional pattern, derived from traditional ornamentation of Swiss chalet eave, has been stamped, which introduces a larger scale to the interior office spaces by decreasing the amount of visible ceiling seams. Micro-perforations in the panels maintain ventilation, allowing for no visible interior air ducts and the placement of an acoustically absorbing sheet on the back of each.
Inhabitable volumes adorn the roof of the lower building, with several garden terraces for employees. These gardens contain a singular red Japanese maple tree, which return in the landscaping of the central courtyard below.
Both the 20-storey tower and 5-storey annex are adjoined underground by a tri-level 300 car parking garage, where most of the extensive IT and mechanical facilities are stored. Similar to a home, the Allianz Headquarters has been infused with espresso corners and lounge like spaces throughout, for instance, its four 8m wide bridges, to stimulate informal conversation within this highly formal working environment.
This wooden pavilion with a protruding canopy was designed by Ramser Schmid Architekten to offer a sheltered outdoor seating area for visitors to the city library in Zug, Switzerland (+ slideshow).
Swiss studio Ramser Schmid Architekten worked with landscape firm Planetage Landscape Architects to create the public pavilion for a new city park occupying the derelict space between the library's two buildings, located within a historic arsenal.
The space was already home to a basement car park, which extends out from the edge of the landscape. Rather than burying this under more landscaping, the team chose to encase it behind a slatted timber screen and build a mushroom-like pavilion on top.
"The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus site," architect David Dick explains in his project description.
The structure is made from timber blocks, which are arranged in a pattern that resembles brickwork. Regular spaces create a rhythm of openings, revealing the supporting beams behind.
"In analogy to the retaining wall's veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them," said Dick.
Planetage Landscape Architects surrounded the structure with shrub beds and low hedges, which line the edges of footpaths connecting the two library buildings with the city's pedestrian pathways.
Photography is by Ralph Feiner.
Here's a project description from Ramser Schmid Architekten:
City Park Zug
The area to be newly designed consisted mainly of the space between two locations of the local library: the main building in the south and the ancient arsenal, in which additional rooms had been installed into in 2011. The clients, the city and the canton of Zug asked for a public city park that was to be linked to the historic city's pedestrian walks. The main goal of the park was to connect both sites of the library.
One of the main challenges was the fact that an underground car park from the 1970s partly juts out of the tilted terrain and its driveway divide the area into two sections.
The commonly accomplished competition entry by Planetage Landscape Architects and Ramser Schmid Architects was the winner of the 2010 competition. The jury report mentions the "surprising and yet persuading configuration of the terrain edge". Instead of hiding away the underground car park's volume by banks of earth, the planners accepted the presence of the building and decided to additionally expose it, extend it and to strengthen it by a wooden wall cladding. The car park now appears as a retaining wall, which separates the upper level with the old arsenal and its terrace from the lower part.
The lower level serves as public traffic area for the underground car park on the one hand. An array of shrub beds bordered by low hedges has been provided, which accompanies the footpaths towards the site and which can be seen as a spatial analogy to the existing Old Town's gardens in Zug.
The staircases to the upper level pass by the retaining wall that is covered with vertical wooden slats. The cladding serves several purposes: besides being a fall protection, it highlights the built structures and facilitates orientation onsite. Protruding elements of the old underground car park, like for example an emergency exit, are masked. Visible transitions between new and 40-year old concrete surfaces are obscured with the new supplements, without hiding away the massive presence of the building.
The upper level located in front of the newly installed research library in the old arsenal is designed as a wide and open park. Generous and versatile lawns, a water basin, flexible seating configurations provide for a relaxed atmosphere.
The pavilion with its widely projecting roof creates a new sense of identity for the old Zeughaus (arsenal) site. The placement of the pavilion on the very top follows the inner logic of the complex: the mushroom-like pavilion is built on the lift shaft and the ventilation station of the 10-storey underground car park below. The technical section that protrudes the car park's roof is amplified and used as a pedestal for the cantilevered roof construction. In analogy to the retaining wall's veil of wood, a transparent shell of horizontal wooden slats around the pedestal was designed in order to embellish the poor quality of the existing buildings rather than to hide them. The cladding depicts the vertical subconstruction as well as the roof's radially arranged laminated beams and reveals, solely by its geometry, the constructive design of the supporting structure.
Landscape architecture: Planetage Landschaftsarchitekten
Team: Marceline Hauri, Christine Sima, Ramon Iten, Helge Wiedemeyer, Thomas Volprecht
Modification of the car park and pavilion: Ramser Schmid Architekten
Team: Christoph Ramser, Raphael Schmid, David Dick, Isabel Amat, Lena Bertozzi, Elena Castellote, Patrick Schneider
Technical Planners: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure, d-lite Lichtdesign
Site Manager: Kolb Landschaftsarchitektur
The timber and stone buildings of Gion A Caminada, a cult figure in Swiss architecture, will feature in an exhibition opening next month at the House of Art in the Czech city of České Budějovice (+ slideshow).
Haus Walpen, Blatten
Hailing from Graubünden, the same Swiss canton as fellow architect Peter Zumthor, Gion A Caminada has built little outside of his native region and instead focussed much of his life's work on the village of Vrin, where he established his studio in the late 1970s.
Both the population and the economy of the village were in serious decline, so Caminada set about providing infrastructure that would help it to thrive again. These projects include the Klosterhof Salaplauna farming facility and the Mehrzweckhalle public sports hall.
Klosterhof Salaplauna
Initally trained as a carpenter and cabinet-maker, the architect also designed a series of houses aimed at combining traditional constructions with modern detailing. Examples of these include Haus Walpen in Blatten, Haus Caviezel in Vrin and his own home, Haus Caminada.
The exhibition, entitled Creating Places, will offer a retrospective of Caminada's career to date, compiled by the architect alongside curator Michal Škoda.
Aussichtsturm Reussdelta
"The aspect of my architecture that I am interested in is the discussion with the local tradition," said Caminada, who currently works as an architecture professor at ETH Zurich.
"I pose a question to myself what those old architectural systems may give us," he continued. "Where is the substance of those constructions? How can they be transformed for new kinds of use to meet the requirements of the present time?"
Aussichtsturm Reussdelta
Other projects featured will include Aussichtsturm Reussdelta – an observation tower for ornithologists – and Waldhuette, a school classroom contained within a woodland cabin.
Stall Werner Caminada
The exhibition opens at the House of Art's contemporary art and architecture gallery on 7 May and will run until 15 June.
Here's some more information about the exhibition:
Gion A Caminada – Creating Places
"The aspect of my architecture that I am interested in is the discussion with the local tradition. I pose a question to myself what those old architectural systems may give us. Where is the substance of those constructions? How can they be transformed for the new kinds use to meet the requirements of the present time? It is always the matter of discussion and a new development. I believe that it is the core of tradition of the entire village."
Mehrzweckhalle, Vrin
These are the words of the Swiss architect Gion A Caminada, whose exhibition was prepared by the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture of the House of Art in České Budějovice for May and June this year.
In the late 1970s, Caminada appeared with a project of improving the development and functioning of the village. And Vrin became the place that Caminada focused a major part of his lifelong effort on. Nowadays, with the benefit of hindsight, we can state that certain ideas and proposals of Caminada's have not remained at the level of considerations only, which is proved by an essential change on the place mentioned.
Waldhuette, Domat/Ems
Vrin, a village that was dying, both in terms of population and economy, started to change in a number of respects. People stopped moving away, and a number of communal and private buildings, as well as modern farming constructions enabling a contemporary manner of cultivating land, were built. All of this was achieved without a conflict with the traditional nature of the village. Traditions and the cultural heritage were linked with new, up-to-date needs. Another proof of the well-chosen way is that Vrin was the first village to be awarded the Wakker Prize of the Swiss Heritage Society.
In Caminada's work, architecture also plays a social role. It is happy and beautiful only if the tension between tradition and modern ways bring attractive solutions and if its function is linked with a way of life.
Waldhuette, Domat/Ems
Caminada based his work on the presumption that houses have to reflect people's stories, and that architecture is an interdisciplinary field, while technology is merely its complement. He uses contemporary means to imprint a traditional appearance to the Alpine environment. However, at the same time, he admits that architecture is becoming a political issue to an increasing degree. The designer has to overcome a number of obstacles related to politics. This is what he partly views as the weak point of contemporary architecture, which has forgotten to solve problems.
Haus Caminada, Vrin
Caminada focuses his interest on the countryside/periphery. He characterises it as the domesticated countryside. Although this area once received a generous support from the Swiss government, this support started to fade away as the government decided to support centres/catchment towns and large villages, which are supposed to influence and inspire the periphery. However, is he convinced that proceeding in the opposite direction is correct. He assumes that this way would, on the contrary bring about an increase in the number of abandoned villages.
He is very particular about tradition and continuity in his work, not only about the picture. His constructions communicate in a comprehensible language, giving priority to their own function. It places a great emphasis on details while studying further possibilities of traditional constructions and trying to find ways towards a perfect model of the timbered house.
Berghuette Terri
We can talk about architecture with a reflection of the original culture, with respect to a particular place, which is not only a romantic area, but also a countryside with whims of the weather.
This exhibition that Caminada prepared specially for the Gallery in České Budějovice focuses on the subject of The Creation of Places. At this venue, it deals with a particular architectonic object to a lesser extent, but gives more attention to the idea of how a place could be strengthened in its broadest reality. The exhibition is divided into five parts, and visitors may see both the village of Vrin and the relationships between objects and the countryside, and the place of Caminada's next place of work – the ETH Zurich.
Haus Beckel Kübler
Gion Antoni Caminada lives in the village of Vrin, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. First, he learned the trade of carpenter and cabinet maker and then he attended a school of applied arts. After gaining experience on his travels he graduated from the ETH Zurich, the Department of Architecture, where he currently works as a professor. In the late 1970s, he returned to his native village of Vrin, founded his own office, and is also politically active there. Most of his realised works that focus on optimising the functioning of the village are situated at Vrin and its surroundings. He is interested in discussions with the local building tradition, and seeks possibilities of employing old building constructions in modern architecture. To realise his constructions he uses traditional local materials wood and stone.
News: Danish firm 3XN has been selected as preferred architect to design a new headquarters for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
3XN was chosen ahead of 11 competing architects, including OMA, Toyo Ito and Amanda Levete, to develop its design for a new administrative home for the organisation governing the Olympic Games, to be built on a 24,000-square-metre site on the banks of Lake Geneva.
The new campus would consolidate the IOC's existing operations around Lausanne, creating offices for up to 500 employees.
The brief called for "a building that clearly reflects the values of IOC" and that could "serve as a catalyst for collaboration and interaction for the IOC Staff and Olympic Movement Stakeholders".
"This is an incredible honour for our studio," said 3XN principal Kim Herforth Nielsen. "The Olympic Movement has many expressions that are about people coming together in the best possible way."
"We have designed the new IOC Headquarters as a physical expression of the Olympic Movement and its values expressed through architecture," he added.
The design will be revealed after the IOC has made a final decision on the plans, following negotiations with the Swiss authorities.
Photograph of Lausanne, Switzerland, is courtesy of Shutterstock.
News:Herzog & de Meuron has unveiled designs for its fourth extension to the headquarters of insurance company Helvetia in the Swiss city of St Gallen.
The new west wing will join three other extensions completed by Herzog & de Meuron between 2002 and 2004 at Helvetia's office campus, which is located on a peak overlooking the city. It will provide a new entrance, as well as offices, meeting rooms and a staff cafe.
Like the three previous extensions, the building will sit on the edge of the company's cross-shaped campus. All four buildings will share the same square-grid facade, and together will frame a series of four courtyards.
"The fourth and final extension creates a striking entrance with a cafe, lounges and offices," said Pierre de Meuron, who partners the firm alongside Jacques Herzog.
"In recent years, four new spaces, different in shape, size and cross-section, have been docked to the cross-shaped building with a central open staircase," he added. "This has resulted in four yard-like gardens that integrate nature into the office. The uniform facades of all extensions gives the entire building complex its identity."
Construction of the campus is set to begin towards the end of this year and the new building should be operational by 2016/2017.
This bulky concrete house on the outskirts of Geneva was designed by Swiss office Local Architecture with a jagged roofline that follows the slope of its hillside site.
Local Architecture designed the family home for a long, narrow plot surrounded by trees, which descends towards a nearby road. The building comprises three connected volumes defined by asymmetric gables, with a basement located below.
"Benefiting from the mild natural grade of the orchard, the house is formed by three spaces shifting down the land," said the design team.
Irregularly shaped glass walls puncture both sides of the house and echo the shape of the roofline. Framed by pine that contrasts with the concrete, these provide access to the surrounding garden from the living room and bedrooms.
Concrete was chosen for the exterior shell to prevent traffic noise reaching the interior, so the facade facing the road is made from solid concrete with no windows.
"The large windows reinforce the transparency of the building and the vertical rhythm and depth of the pinewood posts accentuate the close relationship between each interior space and its outside extension," said the designers.
The interior spaces each feature sloping ceilings of different heights that display the underside of the structural concrete roof.
An entrance contained within one of the glass walls leads to one of two corridors that run along the length of the building and connect the main living areas.
In front of the entrance is one of two service units containing bathrooms and storage, separating the bedrooms at either end of the house from the open living, kitchen and dining area at the centre of the plan.
Short sets of steps lead from a bedroom at the top of the site past the entrance level and the living room to bedrooms for the children at the lowest point.
The following details were provided by the architects:
Family house, Confignon
Located on an elongated plot, the new dwelling occupies the totality of the constructible area. Benefiting from the mild natural grade of the orchard, the house is formed by three spaces shifting down the land. Each "unit" is a volume varying in height and opening sideways towards the garden on both sides.
The daylight space (living room and kitchen) occupies the central area, while the guest room is located in the upper level of the house. The rooms of the children are distributed in the lower part of the volume. Another room completes the ground-floor. Two utility cores dissociate the main living spaces, while a peripheral passageway cadenced by the changes of levels connects them.
The structural concrete shell that ensures protection against the noise pollution coming from the road below, expresses the uneven shape resulting from the height variations of the interior spaces.
The large windows reinforce the transparency of the building and the vertical rhythm and depth of the pinewood posts accentuate the close relationship between each interior space and its outside extension.
News: Danish firm BIG has been commissioned to expand the headquarters of Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet by adding a spiralling museum that coils up from the landscape (+ slideshow).
The Maison des Fondateurs will be located at Audemars Piguet's historic workshop complex in Vallée de Joux, western Switzerland, where the company has been based since its establishment in 1875. Bjarke Ingels' firm will give the complex a new visitor attraction.
The building will comprise a spiral-shaped pavilion that is partially sunken into the ground. As its upper section emerges from the lawn, it will reveal a series of glazed galleries and event spaces that extend to meet the company's historic first workshop.
The brief called for a succession of galleries, as well as a series of connected workshops. BIG's response was to propose a pair of intertwined spirals that allow the two activities to sit side by side.
"Watchmaking like architecture is the art and science of invigorating inanimate matter with intelligence and performance," explained Ingels. "It is the art of imbuing metals and minerals with energy, movement, intelligence and measure – to bring it to life in the form of telling time."
"Unlike most machines and most buildings today that have a disconnect between the body and the mind, the hardware and the software, for the Maison des Fondateurs we have attempted to completely integrate the geometry and the performance, the form and the function, the space and the structure, the interior and the exterior in a symbiotic hole," he added.
The museum will feature a brass-coated steel roof, which will undulate up and down to create vaulted ceilings. The rest of the structure will be built using a mixture of modern and traditional materials, including concrete, stone and timber.
Ingels – who is also working on a warehouse conversion in Basel – described his appreciation of the "flawless craftsmanship" of Swiss architecture.
"Swiss buildings sometime make you suspect that they have been built by watchmakers," he said. "That we are now working directly for the family of the original founders Audemars and Piguet is going to be an amazing exploration in mastery and innovation."
BIG designs museum for Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet
Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet chooses BIG to expand its historic headquarters. The 2,400m2/25,800 ft pavilion will be a striking landmark to precision seamlessly integrated into the local landscape.
The exhibition route connects the new spiral with the existing museum building
Team BIG, HG Merz, Luchinger & Meyer and Muller Illien's design is rooted in the origins of the family owned company, a history of watchmaking that goes back centuries and is nested in the nature and culture of the Vallée de Joux.
The exhibition sequence is positioned in front of the existing museum building with original workshops. The entrance hall connects the existing buildings and connects the exhibition with the hospitality program
Surrounded by the historical workshops in Le Brassus in the heart of La Vallée de Joux, the new museum called Maison des Fondateurs, will be imbedded in the landscape - reuniting the buildings with the undulating fields of the valley.
A landscape carpet is draped over the site
BIG created an intertwined spiral shaped pavilion which is conceived as a storyline for the visitors – blending old and new - and guiding the visitor through a linear sequence of spaces and events, from the entrance through lounges, galleries and workshops, to the attic of the heritage building in the workshop where it all began.
The spiral is lifted and surpressed to allow for views and light
The intertwined spirals solve one of the dilemmas of the program. The narrative structure calls for a succession of galleries and workshops, while the logistics of operations requires the workshops to be interconnected. By coiling up the sequence of spaces in a double spiral, the three workshops find themselves in immediate adjacency – forming one continuous workspace – surrounded by galleries.
Two cuts in the landscape opens up a submerged guesthouse with views of the valley
The roof and ceiling of the pavilion is conceived as a single sheet of metal – a steel structure clad in brass, continuous in plan but undulating in section to create a series of openings allowing daylight and views to the exhibits.
Program
Towards the end of the visit the double spiral intersects the existing museum building providing access to the vaulted spaces in the lower floor and to the attic.
A lightweight steel structure rests on structural glazing
The dynamic forms of modern materials, concrete and brass, give way for a locally anchored tectonic of straight lines and warm surfaces of wood or stone. Heavy meets light. Soft meets hard. Warm meets cool.
The exhibition sequence is stretched into a linear continuous spatial experience. The sequence is bended into a continuous spiral
Swiss office Virdis Architecture clad this sports hall near Lausanne in vertical timber slats, but left toothpick-shaped gaps to allow light to filter through.
Virdis Architecture designed Lussy Sports Hall for a school in Châtel-Saint-Denis, just outside Lausanne, and clad it in vertical pine slats to create a uniform appearance. The two longest sides of the building feature the thin toothpick-shaped gaps, while also create patterns of light on the walls at night.
"We wanted to create the sensation of a closed building from the outside, and an open building from the inside," the architects told Dezeen.
The sports hall is located at the foothills of the Alps and surrounded by gently sloping hills, which Virdis has echoed in the subtle slant of the roof.
"With its generous slanted roofing, the monolithic volume of the project honours the shapes and curvature of the meadow surrounding it," said the architects.
Timber cladding stops just above the ground to make the building appear lighter, and also creates clear space for drainage around the perimeter of the hall.
The two-storey hall is built on a slope and has entrances on the upper and lower levels. The lower level is built with concrete and partially recessed into the mound, and houses sports courts and changing rooms.
The upper level, which is made of timber, has a cafeteria at the side and an open corridor that traverses the width of the building, offering views to the courts below. On the ceiling, 30-metre-long glue-laminated timber beams have been left exposed.
The walls inside the main entrance are covered with perforated emblems of the seven villages that paid for the building, which were created by Swiss design agency By The Way Communications.
Wide strips of glazing on three sides of the building are designed to enhance the relationship of the vast interior with its surroundings. The lower level, which faces east, looks toward the playing fields just outside and the hills beyond, and the cafeteria on the side of the upper level, which faces south, looks out to where a new building with classrooms is being built.
The hall is heated by an off-site wood-powered system that also powers heating for the surrounding village. It claims to be the first building in Switzerland to use insulation made from recycled expanded polystyrene, which was gleaned from the waste of other construction sites and developed in collaboration with construction company Swisspor.
Here is some more information from the architects:
Isolated in a rural, hilly landscape at the foot of the Préalpes, the project was elaborated to blend with its natural surrounding, drawing inspiration from the vernacular architecture and the dominant topography of the region.
The volume of the sport facilities takes place naturally on the mound. With its generous slanted roofing, the monolithic volume of the project honours the shapes and curvature of the meadow surrounding it. The edges appear and disappear within the landscape folds, offering smooth perspective changes. Throughout the site, respecting the topography, gently sloped paths were drawn to link north and south, lower and higher portions, guiding visitors to each entrance position with ease.
The interior of the project is organised to facilitate access and the sense of a connection with the exterior, existing sport facilities. The sports field of the new building, towards the east, offers uninterrupted continuity between interior and exterior thanks to harmonised levels and a giant glass opening. The upper foyer containing the cafeteria creates another relationship with the top of the mound towards the south, where a second building with classrooms is being built.
The ground floor of the building, partially recessed into the mound, is entirely built of concrete and operates as a structural plinth. Walls above ground and the roof are made entirely out of wood. The roof structure is composed of triangulated, glued-laminated timber beams spanning 29.9 metres.
The project has been developed with a sustainable approach from early conception to its materialisation. First, in comparison to other, similar facilities, the volume of the project is decidedly compact. In addition, a central wood heating system guarantees temperature comfort in the winter, and during the summer, a combination of natural air circulation and controlled ventilation minimises the overall energy consumption of the space.
Material choices were guided by the same sustainable sensibility. Wood became the favoured material, not only because of its aesthetic harmony with its surroundings, but for its ease of assembly, reducing cost and time.
The insulation is nearly exclusively made out of 100% recycled materials, coming from other construction site waste. This technique came about from collaborative research with the engineers and the manufacturer, and was experimented for the very first time in the construction of this project. It represents a new step towards sustainable insulation technology. The building was awarded the energy label, Swiss Minergie.
This gabled concrete visitor centre by local architects Iseppi/Kurath is perched on the edge of a 60-metre gorge in the Swiss Alps (+ slideshow).
Architects Ivano Iseppi and Stefan Kurath were asked to develop the Viamala Gorge Visitor Centre as part of an ongoing project aimed at improving infrastructure for visitors to an area in the Grison Alps.
The brief was to improve existing facilities and provide access to a set of stairs constructed in 1903, which descend into the gorge. The building replaces a kiosk that previously stood on the site, marking the transition from a road to the stairway.
Photograph by Thomas Häusermann
The architects, whose previous projects include an angular service station, sought to meet these practical requirements whilst relating the structure to the rugged landscape of the gorge.
"The material concept of the visitors' centre, predominantly consisting of concrete, wood and steel, stands in close context to the archaic environment of the gorge as well as the protective requirements, such as guarding the public against rock fall and through traffic," they explained.
The centre's gabled ends were added to reference typical Alpine architecture. They transition into a kinked and folded facade bordering the road, which incorporates a narrow aperture providing glimpses of the interior.
The pitched roof covering the main volume is spliced where the building kinks to create an exposed terrace facing the gorge.
A balustrade made from vertical metal fins lines the terrace and allows views across the valley from benches fitted to the opposite wall.
Both ends of the building are fully glazed to frame views of the scenery and allow light to penetrate the timber-lined interior.
Visitors enter across a forecourt and buy a ticket that gives them access to a concrete staircase leading to an exhibition space sheltered underneath the centre.
This connects to the top of the old stone stairway that continues into the gorge, which visitors can explore before returning via a second staircase at the far end of the building.
Photography is by Laura Egger, unless otherwise stated.
Here's a project description from Iseppi/Kurath:
Visitors' Centre Viamala Gorge
The Viamala Gorge is considered an unique natural spectacle in the Grisons region in Switzerland. In 1903 it was the starting point for the touristic exploration of the gorge. Today it is the figurehead of an entire region.
In 2010 the governing board of the operating cooperative "Viamala Infra Betriebsgenossenschaft" addressed architects Ivano Iseppi and Stefan Kurath, and commissioned them to establish scenarios for optimising the local structures and infrastructures.
Photograph by Thomas Häusermann
Extensive scrutiny of the location as well as intense talks between the governing board of the cooperative and the architects indicated that a new structure should support the work of the tourist operation in the gorge as well as improving access, yet realised as a sensitively designed infrastructure not in competition with the actual gorge.
The newly built visitors' centre is located where once a kiosk stood, which was dismantled. It forms a transition from the road into gorge, spectacularly positioned at the edge of a 60 metre deep abyss. An asymmetrically arranged pitched roof spans the approximately 40 square metres of the visitors' centre and its counter area. While the structure appears closed towards the street and the gorge, the southern and northern faces of the building are furnished with large area window panes. As high as the room itself, these structural openings enframe the impressive landscape.
A narrow, funnel-shaped window enables a view inside the visitors' centre from the street. The placement of the walls, the terrace and the stairs follow the topography. The 111 year old stairway system in natural stone forms the fundament of the building. The material concept of the visitors' centre, predominantly consisting of concrete, wood and steel, stands in close context to the archaic environment of the gorge as well as the protective requirements, such as guarding the public against rock fall and through traffic.
Photograph by Thomas Häusermann
Visitors cross a forecourt before reaching the visitors' centre. From there they reach the gorge via an exposed stairway after buying a ticket. The route leads through a new exhibition room located below the counter area. From there visitors can access the still existing stairway system of 1903, which eventually leads into the actual gorge. After visiting the gorge, the route leads visitors back into the visitors centre on the southern side of the building. A terrace attached to the visitors' centre offers seats for those who cannot walk the steep path into the gorge or wish to enjoy a cup of coffee with a view of the gorge.
Location: Viamala Gorge between Thusis and Zillis in Grison
Commissioner: Viamala Infra Betriebsgenossenschaft
Architects: Iseppi / Kurath GmbH, Ivano Iseppi and Stefan Kurath, Thusis/Zürich
Building Costs BKP 1-9: 1,400,000 CHF
Cooperators: Arno Deplazes, Ivano Iseppi, Stefan Kurath, Yvonne Michel, Jonas Rütimann, Monika Steiner
Material: concrete, spruce and ash, steel
Herzog & de Meuron has completed its sixth project for Swiss herbal sweet manufacturer Ricola – a herb processing plant with rammed earth walls in the countryside surrounding Laufen.
The Kräuterzentrum, which translates as herb centre, is a new production facility for the manufacturer of herbal cough drops and breath mints.
Herzog & de Meuron was first commissioned by Ricola to renovate its offices back in 1993. Since then the Swiss architecture studio has designed the company a storage building with a screen-printed facade in France and a glazed marketing headquarters, also in Laufen.
Unlike the earlier buildings, the herb centre is predominantly built from earth, extracted from local quarries and mines. Comprising a mixture of clay, marl and soil, this material helps to maintain a cool internal environment.
Each of the earth elements was prefabricated in a nearby factory by compacting the soil and clay mixture into a formwork. These were then layered up in blocks to form the walls.
"Thanks to the plasticity of the loam, the seams can be retouched, giving the overall structure a homogeneous appearance," said Herzog & de Meuron in a statement.
The building's elongated shape was designed to echo the pathways and the hedges that characterise the region. This also suits the production processes that take place inside, from drying and cutting to blending and storage.
"The new Kräuterzentrum is situated like an erratic block in the midst of a landscape dotted with conventional industrial buildings," said the design team.
"It is like a geometrical segment of landscape with its dimensions and archaic impact heightened by the radical choice of material."
The self-supporting facade is lined internally with load-bearing concrete walls, while the roof is covered with photovoltaic panels that provide a source of sustainable energy.
Large round windows puncture two elevations to offer glimpses inside, and a visitor centre occupying the first floor allows guests to observe the production process from above.
Photography is by Iwan Baan unless otherwise indicated.
This concrete house in Switzerland's March District was designed by Zurich studio Kit with split levels, creating a living room that cantilevers over an external dining area.
Known as House in the March District, the property was designed by Kit for a family who wanted a home with plenty of floor space and a four-car garage, for a small site in a densely populated neighbourhood.
To minimise the building's footprint and provide the diversity of internal spaces requested by the clients, the architects arranged the rooms over five split levels that work with the natural slope of the land.
"The building was designed as a split-level to create a connection to the surrounding garden," explained the architects. "This allows a sequence of spaces with different degrees of intimacy, light qualities and orientations."
Above the ground floor garage and a basement that is submerged beneath a sloping section of the garden, the living areas are differentiated by the amount of light, privacy and views afforded by their position in the staggered plan.
A glazed entrance sits beside the garage and below the cantilevered living room. This leads to a staircase that ascends through the centre of the house, loosely dividing the plan into two halves.
"The spacious program is shoehorned into the constricted envelope by literally upending the traditional house plan," said the architects.
"Instead of common spaces on the ground floor and the private spaces above, the two are squeezed side by side in vertical strips, divided by a single wall."
One side of the building is designated as an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, with bedrooms accommodated on the opposite side.
Sliding doors along one wall of the kitchen and dining area open out to the upper level of the garden, from which a staircase descends to the patio accommodating a sheltered outdoor dining space.
A staircase connecting the kitchen with the living room incorporates wider sections that can be used for casual seating. A further set of stairs leads to the library on the building's top floor, which features a slanted bookcase fitted along one wall.
The top storey also contains an additional bedroom and bathroom, with a short flight of steps leading to a terrace carved out from the sloping roofline.
A mixture of exposed concrete, white render and long windows was specified to "add to the feeling of ease and openness in the house's mezzanine-like living areas".
External surfaces are rendered with a rough trowel-thrown plaster, which has been painted in a warm tone and finished with a reflective silver treatment that picks out the peaks of the lumpy surface to give it added depth.
"The plaster is double coated with a warm white ground coat and a reflecting silver coat to accentuate the tips of the grain, giving depth to the surface and allowing the building to change its expression depending on the point of view and the lighting conditions," added the team.
Keeping up with the growing popularity for natural swimming pools, Herzog & de Meuron has completed a biologically filtered bathing lake in Riehen, Switzerland (+ slideshow).
Following a series of unrealised proposals for conventional swimming pools in the town, Herzog & de Meuron developed the design for the Naturbad Riehen in the spirit of Badi – the traditional wooden pools that sit within the Rhine river.
The result is an outdoor pool that offers bathers the experience of swimming in a naturally filtrated lake, kept clean using water plants as well as layers of gravel, sand and soil, rather than with machinery and chemicals.
"The standard geometric swimming pool transforms into a bathing lake where the technical systems and machine rooms vanish, to be substituted by planted filtering cascades," said Herzog & de Meuron.
The Swiss architects first won a competition to create a swimming pool in Riehen in 1979. This never materialised but, according to the designers, the desire for swimming facilities remained among local residents.
As the traditional riverside baths became more and more obsolete, several more proposals came and went, until the designers eventually came up with their plan to create a natural pool.
"The changed perspectives brought by the intervening years prompted the idea of abandoning the conventional pool concept with its mechanical and chemical water treatment systems in favour of a pool closer to a natural condition," said the team.
"This concept led to the notion of modelling the natural pool on the local Badi, which combine a lively atmosphere with a timeless appearance," they explained.
The new pool is located on the north bank of the River Wiese, which meets the Rhine in Basel. It can accommodate up to 2,000 bathers per day, and features indoor changing facilities and a waterside cafe.
Built from larch wood, the amenities building runs along the eastern side of the site, serving as the main entrance. It adjoins a fence built from the same material, which extends around the northern and western boundaries to offer sheltered seating areas and showers for bathers.
"From all parts of the facility, attention is focused on the bathing pond at the centre of the site," said the design team.
The southern boundary along the river's edge is screened only by plants, allowing swimmers to look out over the neighbouring waters.
Biological water-treatment basins contain the plants used as part of the organic filtration system. These are located on the opposite side of the road, embedded into the landscape of a parkland site that is in use all year round.
Natural pools are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, although the Naturbad Riehen is the one of the first to be designed by a well-known architect. Harbour-side baths have also been gaining popularity ever since JDS Architects installed recreational bathing facilities along Copenhagen's waterfront in 2002.
Vertical strips of travertine stone cover the facades of these apartment buildings in the Swiss village of Crans-près-Céligny by Group8asia, altering the appearance of the structures when viewed from different angles.
Named Striped Living, the two buildings were designed by architecture firm Group8asia to join three others that have been completed as part of an evolving masterplan for the village centre, which will eventually see a total of 15 blocks constructed in close proximity to one another.
Containing a total of 14 rental properties that range in size from studios to six-room apartments, as well as a nursery, the buildings were designed to respond to their densely developed context while referencing the village's traditional houses and farm buildings.
By installing the stone fins across the facades, the architects were able to restrict views into the buildings from the surrounding public spaces and to reference the material palette commonly used in the region.
"The travertine stone helps promote the idea of respect and integration," architect Grégoire Du Pasquier told Dezeen.
"The vertical cladding addresses the issue of visual proximity. The masterplan allows buildings to be very close to each other, so a facade solution was required to solve this issue."
The depth of the narrow stone strips creates a dynamic optical effect. From the front, the surfaces seem open and transparent, but when viewed from an angle they appear more solid and monolithic.
In places, the vertical fins partially cover windows, while elsewhere they are interrupted by openings for further windows and balconies that are positioned to make the most of views towards the countryside.
"Voids and openings to the landscape are mainly placed at the corners to create terraces," said Du Pasquier. "This also allows sculpting of the volume and allows us to get out of the block effect."
Each of the apartments has a unique floor plan, with the irregular positioning of the openings on the facade revealing the variety of internal spaces.
"Different floors propose different layouts, so the facades follow the same logic and allow you to think you have your own little villa, even when these houses are for renting," added Du Pasquier.
Asphalt surfaces surrounding the buildings provide play areas for children, which also accommodate wooden platforms that can be used for casual seating.
Circulation areas inside the buildings feature cast concrete staircases that rise through openings in the textured concrete floors of the levels above.
Windows enable natural light to reach the corridors and lobbies at the centre of the buildings, with pebble-floored gaps providing visual separation between each of the individual residences.
Apartments feature wooden floors that contrast with stark white walls and fitted cabinetry, creating a neutral backdrop for the tenants to customise.
Internal lighting shines between the vertical larch battens that clad this extension to a primary school near Basel by Swiss firms Zwimpfer Partner Architekten and BBK Architekten.
Situated in the centre of the village of Biel-Benken, the facility by Zwimpfer Partner Architekten and BBK Architekten adds to the original buildings at Kilchbühl school, which date from 1964.
It comprises two interconnected wings containing teaching facilities and a gym hall that fill a vacant plot between the existing buildings and a new village square at the other end of the site.
The schoolhouse section was completed last year and was joined more recently by the perpendicular gym hall, forming a sheltered outdoor space between the L-shaped exterior and the original school.
Both sections of the building feature concrete cores wrapped entirely in battens of untreated local larch with different depths, which create a pattern across the facades that alters when viewed from different angles.
"A rhythmic sequence of larch wood panels leads the eye along the exterior walls," said the architects.
The wooden cladding covers high window openings on the west-facing wall of the gym hall to limit the amount of direct sunlight entering the building.
"Interacting with the inner space of the building the wooden facade stays tangible in every room and influences the atmosphere by reflecting and filtering the sunlight," said the team.
The gymnasium burrows into a sloping section of the site and features exposed concrete beams supporting the large span of its ceiling.
Daylight entering the hall through clerestory windows is supplemented by strip lighting between the ceiling beams. Walls are painted white and the open space can be configured in various ways.
At the highest part of the plot, a concrete ramp connects the older part of the school to an entrance on the upper floor of the two-storey teaching building.
This level houses the classrooms and adjoining groupwork rooms, while additional work spaces, storage and technical facilities are located on the lower storey.
Dappled light filtering through the timber screens illuminates the stairwells connecting the two levels, which feature wooden handrails set into the concrete walls.
A long corridor that bisects the school building on the ground floor contains low-level concrete benches and storage integrated into white fitted cabinetry so the space can be used as a cloakroom.
News: Swiss office Fruehauf Henry & Viladoms has been selected ahead of Kengo Kuma, Bernard Tschumi and Studio Mumbai to envision a new wing for the Musée du Léman on the edge of Lake Geneva (+ slideshow).
Featuring rough concrete walls, a rooftop green and a lofty exhibition hall, Fruehauf Henry & Viladoms' extension will quadruple the size of the existing museum, which is focused on the nature and culture of Lake Geneva.
The new two-storey structure is conceived as an angular L-shaped block that wraps around the old building – a former hospital in the old town of Nyon, Switzerland.
It is designed to appear as a continuation of the surrounding landscape, with a lawn extending over its sloping roof to create a visual relationship with the neighbouring Bois-Fleuri and Bourg de Rive parks.
Exterior walls will be built from a concrete aggregate that includes sand, clay, earth and ochre pigments, creating a rough texture designed to evoke the existing town walls.
"A new wall, reminiscent of the city's old walls, defines [the project's] contours," explained studio co-founder Guillaume Henry.
"Seen from the old town, this building of public importance remains discrete, whereas seen from the lake it affirms its presence and period in time."
All exhibition spaces will be provided by top-lit spaces on the ground floor of the new building, which will include the Musée du Léman's previously unseen collection of historical boats.
The first floor will contain a 200-seat auditorium and a restaurant, opening out to a terrace on the roof.
"The organisational principle is to create a fluid visitors' path and allow for independent and flexible access to every exhibition space," said the architects.
The existing building will be renovated to accommodate offices, as well as a new documentation centre that reveals the elaborate timber framework of the old structure. Previous annexes will be demolished.
"Seen in the light of the budget available and the high quality demands, many experts had first deemed the facade 'unbuildable'," the architects said.
Undulating sections overlap slightly as they curve around the domed building. The designers said that the shape was based on a pine cone found in the nearby forest.
The waves create openings in the facade around the balconies for the 216 rooms and 38 residences, framing views of the mountains across the valley.
"The undulating envelope wraps itself tightly around the structure, leading to an interplay between open and closed surfaces which appears different from every angle," said the architects.
Overseen by facade specialists Seele, the geometry was created using parametric digital modelling by Stuttgart studio Designtoproduction.
Over 790 steel panels are mounted onto a gridded frame of squares, made up of primary and secondary ribs that create the three-dimensional curvature.
Three-millimetre sheet steel, with a champagne-coloured metallic coating, was chosen over aluminium as it was cheaper and less susceptible to changes in length that occur with temperature fluctuations.
The panels were manufactured in the Czech Republic and transported to Davos by road, secured in bespoke frames.
Inside, facilities include a restaurant, conference rooms and a sky lounge on the 10th floor, with interiors by Swedish firm Living Design.
A 1,200-square-metre spa features 12 treatment rooms, a fitness area, a hairdresser, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, rest rooms and a sauna area.
Project: New InterContinental Davos Hotel
Construction time: 2008 to 2013
Facade erection: September 2012 to September 2013
Client/Investor: Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund Hospitality
Architects: Oikios GmbH
General contractor: Consortium – TU Baulink AG, Toneatti
Geometry design: Designtoproduction
Facade: Seele
Structural engineers, facade: Wilhelm + Partner
Nickisch Sano Walder Architects has deconstructed an Alpine log cabin to create the framework for a stark concrete hideaway with the same footprint and form as its predecessor (+ slideshow).
Photograph by Gaudenz Danuser
Situated in Flims, in the Swiss Alps, the 40-square-metre house known as Concrete Cabin replaces an aged log cabin to provide a holiday home for up to two people.
Photograph by Gaudenz Danuser
Restricted by a planning order that demanded "the character of the persisting cabin" be retained, local studio Nickisch Sano Walder Architects chose to use the original timber as the mould for the new concrete house.
As a result, the cast concrete walls of the structure feature round log-shaped indents that are imprinted with a wood grain.
Photograph by Gaudenz Danuser
"This ensemble created an image that leaves a strong memory about this place," said the architects.
Photograph by Ralph Feiner
The building is divided over two floors, with a living and cooking area at ground level, and a bedroom and bathroom concealed in the leftover cellar of the original cabin.
Photograph by Ralph Feiner
"Guests in Flims mostly spend their days in the surrounding nature – the cabin is used as a refuge, a resting and recreation place," said the firm.
Photograph by Ralph Feiner
A small extension to the rear of the cabin accommodates the staircase between upper and lower levels, as well as a storage room and toilet.
Photograph by Gaudenz Danuser
The cabin was designed with only a single window on each level, but there are few artificial light sources.
Photograph by Ralph Feiner
"To provide an intimate atmosphere to the interior space the cabin didn't need much light, rather precise openings with specific glimpses into the forest," said the architects.
Photograph by Ralph Feiner
A circular skylight punched out of the thick ceiling over the fireplace – also cast in concrete – funnels additional light into the living area.
Photograph by Gaudenz Danuser
On the lower level, a glazed wall and doorway runs parallel to a polished concrete bathtub in the bedroom.
Exterior curtains draw back across the glazed facade of this hillside events venue in Bern, Switzerland, to offer visitors uninterrupted views of the surrounding Alps (+ slideshow).
Designed by Swiss firm mlzd, Gurten Pavilion is an 800-square-metre building designed for hosting public and private events, from formal banquets to parties and talks, on a mountain known as the Gurten.
The pavilion is glazed on all four sides, although external curtains allow occupants to control the number of permitted views outside. It sits on a steel platform, creating a floorplate that extends out towards the view.
A slender metal framework is expressed externally by exposed I-beams with black coated surfaces. Windows are framed by narrow vertical beams, while the overhanging roof has a gently tapered edge.
"The roof seems to float, its support structure comprised only of an inner circle of sleek, shiny nickel-plated reflecting massive steel stanchions," said the architects in a statement.
The golden curtains bring some colour to the facade. These are complemented by a pair of brass gates that stretch up from the floor to the roof, as well as by a speckled terrazzo floor.
"The black-coated metal structure of the comparatively modest building is made festive by the gleaming golden floor-to-ceiling sunshade curtains, the terrazzo floor with its reddish-yellow pyrite gravel from Lake Thun, and the monumental brass gates," said the architects.
The building has one storey at ground level and another submerged into the hillside. The events hall occupies the majority of the upper level, while the lower floor accommodates ancillary activities.
Silvery curtains can be used to partition the hall, offering a subtly different tone to the external coverings.
Three separate doorways through the northern facade all lead out to a narrow balcony that wraps around most of the building's perimeter. This is fronted by a glass balustrade to maintain the view.
Criss-crossing steel cable braces offer additional support to the structure in strong winds, or in the event of an earthquake.
Underfloor heating supplements the traditional fan heaters. "The external solar blind, the roof ventilation, the underfloor heating and the forced-air heating all provide for the structure's energy-efficient climate control in a wide variety of weather and operating conditions," added the architects.
A zigzagging roof extends across this extension added to the original gable end of a community centre in the Swiss municipality of Oberglatt by Zurich studio Frei + Saarinen (+ slideshow).
The roof covers an extension designed by Frei + Saarinen to replace a fire-damaged entrance wing to a large gymnasium from the 1970s that has been converted into a multi-purpose events space for the inhabitants of Oberglatt.
The extension provides a new main entrance and community facilities at the front of the existing building, which is now called the Chliriethalle and is used for sporting events, concerts, exhibitions and celebrations.
Frei + Saarinen won a competition to oversee the upgrade to the facility with its proposal for a predominantly glass-fronted space sheltered beneath a roof that projects from the edges of the existing roof's pitched section.
"The concept of the winning proposal suggested stretching the roof surface of the gymnasium over the new building," said a statement from the architects. "By doing so, old and new are unified by a roof that works like a brace."
"Old and new should not appear as separate buildings, but as one big freestanding barn-like structure," the architects added, "so as to avoid having the addition look like a ridiculous annex."
The new roofline reaches multiple peaks, creating differing ceiling heights appropriate for the activities that take place within the various spaces.
This ridged ceiling helps to create visual diversity along the length of the extension as it passes from the lobby area at one end to a ramp connecting to the upper level at the other.
At the top of the ramp is a landing that looks out through an angular window towards the surrounding trees, connecting to a meeting room and vestibule overlooking the main hall.
Glazed trophy and display cabinets are built into a wall on one side of the ramp and continue around the corner onto the landing.
The main lobby space fills roughly half of the ground floor, but can be separated into two rooms with individual pitched roofs using a moveable wall.
The rest of the ground floor space is dedicated to services including a delivery space, a workshop, clubhouse, wardrobe, toilets, and an area for cooking and serving food.
As the main public-facing part of the building, the extension is intended as a marker for the community and its zig-zagging section is therefore picked out in shiny silver panels.
The end profile of the roofline varies in thickness, designed to be reminiscent of the "beauty and tension" of calligraphy.
"It might seem like a strange comparison, but the front of the roof is designed to work as a sign for the whole building," said the architects. "Thus, its light silver colour, which contrasts to the black or glazed facade underneath and makes it visible from a great distance."
Glazing wraps around the public areas of the extension, while the more private spaces at the opposite end including the clubhouse are clad with timber.
Round windows punctuating these surfaces are influenced by goalposts to reflect the building's main use as a gymnasium. The windows create a contrast with the glazing and its vertical framing, enhancing the differentiation between the two areas.
