Joos & Mathys Architekten

Description

The stage for the houses on Schlossstrasse in Rüschlikon is formed not by the large lake area, as is the case with many new buildings on the lakeshore, but by the two magnificent trees of the former palace park, whose crowns tower over their roofs. They silently carry within them the history of the magnificent palace, which was constructed at the end of the 19th century. What counts here is not the profitable primacy of the lake view, which in terraced developments is often staged as a large-format screen behind cool glass fronts. Much more important is the desire to integrate the idea of the garden into the architecture of the two houses. And not only through the development of their external form but primarily in their internal layout. Rather than sitting in a palatial cinema where everyone is looking in the same direction, the impression is more like a walk through the garden, where the golden evening sun on one side alternates with the glistening mirror-like surface of the water on the other. The topography of the sloping hillside and the impressive trees were the guiding principles for positioning the two houses. Maintaining the natural topography as far as possible, without excavation or backfilling, as well as the integral preservation of the large trees, results in a natural-looking arrangement of the houses. The landscaping follows the same principles, in pefect harmony with the existing buildings.