Haus Q

Project with Guy Keller 2018-2020
In Collaboration with: Franz Ulmann und Partner GmbH

«Die Gebäude haben sich bezüglich Volumetrie, Proportion, Orientierung, Dachneigung und Fassadengliederung an der Appenzellerischen Baukultur zu orientieren. (Art 9.1)»

from the "Remsersjockelis-Nollenstrasse" neighbourhood plan

The starting point for "House Q" is the conservative neighbourhood plan - this contrasts with the client's desire for "new contemporary architecture". The resulting design catches the eye from a distance as an anchor point, without upsetting the balance of the existing quarter. A filigree wooden building stands on a counteracting massive mineral base, which not only upgrades the site but has itself become a volume. The façade takes up the vertical structure, which is strongly emphasized in traditional Appenzell houses on the weather-resistant, chiselled facade. This is characterised by parapets and window bands in the filigree larch façade.

The wooden battens on the façade play with the small-scale character of the traditional shingle façades on the weather side. Solid pilaster strips give the building a vertical structure and mark the places where interior walls meet the façade. This gives the grid of the façade the third dimension and runs through the whole design. The different depths of the columns, the wooden battens and the windows give the house an extremely plastic appearance. The cross gable roof was created by connecting the traditional stable and residential house roof and enables a volume with equal facades in all four directions - additionally unified by the clear grid.

The spacious terraces facing southwest are set back behind a railing that extends further and blends into the wooden facade. In this way, they blend into the house without destroying the overall impression of the volume and at the same time offer a protected exterior space. The house consists of three apartments of different sizes, all of which have a very spacious south-facing living room, a central access point and windows that face the mountain panorama.