2019, House 3: Tricky House, Zurich

House 3: Tricky House
Co-operative multi-family apartments, Zurich, Switzerland, 2017–2019

The Tricky House is one of five houses we have built or are building for GEWOBAG cooperative in the area of Fellenbergstrasse / Langgrütstrasse. It closes a building gap and forms the conclusion of an area development.

Tricky legal building conditions, severe restrictions due to noise emissions and an already constructed garage entrance – the building meets these constraints with two oriels projecting sideways to the street and a volume tapering backwards.

 

Two apartments on each floor are next to each other. Numerous corner situations, due to the staggering, create a versatile orientation that gives the apartments a close relationship to the outside space despite the tight space conditions.

The materialization and façade design is based on the architectural language of its kinship – two big brother houses across the street (glitter façade), which we also built for the Gewobag. The Tricky House thus not only completes the area development, but also creates a link to the neighbourhood. This creates a connection between the two settlements of Gewobag, which makes the place a kind of centre of the cooperative.

Address
Fellenbergstrasse 277a, 8047 Zurich, Switzerland

Direct order, planning and execution 2017–2019

Builder/ client
GEWOBAG Gewerkschaftliche Wohn- und Baugenossenschaft – Trade Union Housing and Construction Cooperative Zurich, Langgrütstrasse 140, Zurich

Spatial program
7 apartments (incl. 1 maisonette apartment)

 

Architecture
Patrick Gmür, Michael Geschwentner

Project team
Susan Held (member of the executive board), Florian Hoch (project management), Annick Zucchetti (deputy pm), Anastasia König

Adrian Dominguez, Sandro Lenherr, Demian Haller, Attila Jung (trainee)