Studio Gugger

Description

The new residential building in Windisch represents a crucial contemporary challenge: adapting former industrial areas into lively new urban neighbourhoods. Located nearby a former hydroelectric power plant, the project aims to preserve the charm of the informal atmosphere of the area and at the same time offer new and attractive residential spaces with the highest standards of sustainability and comfort. The new building occupies the plot where the boiler house once stood and follows its proportions. A thoughtful positioning of the new volume allows the residents to create a variety of urban spaces all around it with various degrees of intimacy. Surrounding areas remain unsealed, with marl surfacing linking to the electrical workshop and Kulturzentrum Diesellokal cultural centre. An oak shades the public space in front of the building. No other fixed plantings are planned, so that residents can adapt the space for play, markets or gatherings. A delicate, cheerful façade results from cladding with coloured corrugated fibre-cement panels, together with balconies that wrap around the building in continuation of the floor slabs, coloured textile sunshades and railings with a woven pattern. Timber-frame walls and a column-beam system manage vertical loads, while the concrete access core stabilises the horizontal forces. Wooden elements bring an immediate sense of natural warmth and cosiness into the interiors, at the same time minimising the use of concrete to ensure a consistent reduction of CO₂ produced in the construction process.