bauzeit architekten | Single House Lake of Biel

in Architecture by editor — 3:07 pm | August 3, 20120 comments

Placed on a gentle slope on the southern shore of Lake Biel, the new edification was built on the old romantic garden of a 19th century villa that no longer exists. The remaining parts of it, an ancient cave, a pond and the vegetation, were kept and form part of the new project. It is organized on three levels, each floor having a different spatial character, housing three specific program areas:

- On the ground floor are organized the living room and kitchen with direct contact with the outside; a total  transparency, in line with the slope, is guaranteed with very large windows. To the east, a small forest and a mirror of water created from a natural source, to the west the view opens onto the garden with its exuberant vegetation and the lake as background.

- On the first floor a large area is modulated by two sculptural volumes containing two bathrooms. Through a curtain system the space is built variable creating a sleeping area and two zones for work and meditation. If the ground floor is characterized by the use of exposed concrete and a big transparency, this floor is entirely made of wood (ceiling, floor and walls) and suggests instead a more privacy vis-à-vis the outside. The environment is omnipresent but ‘filtered’ through the wooden lattice which, at the same time contains the unwanted attention from the outside.

- On the lower floor the secondary areas, as cellar, laundry, heating, and a workshop. If the two upper floors are characterized rather by the monochrome and the use of materials in their natural state, these floor is characterized by a strong use of color, floors, walls and ceilings combine various colors. The vertical movement guaranteed by the staircase, is the passage through three distinct worlds, with no continuity.

Tags: bauzeit architekten featured ftnews house Lake of Biel residence residential Switzerland