Roman Hutter Architektur
Kirchbühl farmhouse
best architects 21
single family homes
Place
Kirchbühl, Switzerland
Studio
Photos
Markus Käch
Description
On a hill above Sempachs lies
the hamlet of Kirchbühl. Over the last two years, the farmhouse from the early
17th century was adapted to contemporary living requirements while carefully
respecting the building and its history. Spatial additions such as extensions
were deliberately avoided. While
the main façade was enhanced with spruce shingles and retains the
typical appearance of a farmhouse, the northern façade looking onto the
agricultural surroundings was given a more individual look. Due to the
different materialisation, this aspect had a special status even before the
renovation. That allowed the architects to dismantle the more recent cladding.
The previously concealed timbered frame was revealed and reclad with a
framework of spruce. The individual beams were carefully arranged and, instead
of an overhanging roof, the transition to the gable can now be discerned through
the horizontal interlocking of the elements as well as through the different
widths of the two timbered sections of the support structure. Inside
the building, the new wooden grid allows for variations in the spatial
structure and the corresponding openings. The kitchen areas of the two
residential units, set on the northern side, were thus opened to the living
space above. The typology of the sequence of rooms, which is three rooms deep
with a traversing passage, has remained unchanged.