Apartment Block

Baech / Switzerland, 1996

Description
Cooperation with Matthias Reifler

This six-unit apartment complex is located right on the shore of Lake Zurich. Despite there being multiple units, the building is designed so that each dwelling retains a direct relationship to the surroundings for the residents and allows an individual use of the exclusive location. Two building volumes insulate the lakeside garden from the road space and the railway line, creating the large, peaceful outside area with its own private mooring. All apartments look out over the water and are accessible via the open staircase or an access balcony. This avoids the impersonal character of a typical apartment block and gives residents the freedom to pop out into the garden or down to the lake without having to use a closed staircase or a lift.