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LOFT APARTMENTS RAUTISTRASSESPILLMANN ECHSLE ARCHITEKTENLOCATION: RAUTISTRASSE 11–13, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND | COMPLETION: 2014 | CLIENT: IG ZURIMO “B” AG C/O UBS FUND MANAGEMENT | WOOD ENGINEERING: TIMBATEC HOLZBAUINGENIEURE SCHWEIZ | STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: HAAG + PARTNER | PHOTOGRAPHER: ROGER FREI

Even though the addition seems simply structured

at first sight, the individual lofts are intertwined

in a complicated manner determined by the nec-

essary placement of interior and exterior spaces

away from noise. The 17 residential units are di-

vided into two basic types. Living rooms and bed-

rooms are continued into front exterior terraces.

The vertical stacking creates the space of a small

town house. All units are accessed by a single

internal corridor on the fifth floor. Depending on

the loft type, the contained internal staircase leads

down one floor into the reused building structure

of the fourth floor, or up into the added sixth floor.

The style of the façade is very urban and reflects

the interior layout and use. The choice of cladding

for the timber addition consists of robust plain

fiber-cement cast elements that create a link to the

original building. The dimensions and illumination

of the open industrial structure of the existing

building accommodates flexible uses. The struc-

ture and internal layout of the high-quality exten-

sion allows residential use that would otherwise

not be possible in this location. The maintenance

and continued existence of the historical icons

of the 1940s on the small urban plot is ecological

in itself. The timber addition built to Minergie

standard with the façade in the front complies

with the latest technological standards. The con-

struction method of separation at the lamination

crack is accessible and expandable.

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Planinhalt

Bauherrschaft

Bauobjekt

Schnitt A1MasstabDIN A4Grösse 1:333

1020 4

055Bauobjekt

Aufstockung "rauti-huus"

Planinhalt

DatumBauherrschaft

Bauobjekt

Schnitt A2MasstabDIN A4Grösse 1:333

1020 4

055Bauobjekt

Aufstockung "rauti-huus"

055 PlaninhaltBauobjekt

Aufstockung "rauti-huus" Schnitt B2

MasstabDIN A4Grösse 1:333

1020 4

FACTSGROSS FLOOR AREA: 2,500 SQMMAIN MATERIALS: TIMBER USE: RESIDENTIALURBAN PLANNING REQUIREMENTS: INTEGRATION INTO EXISTING BUILDINGSSPECIAL FACT: DEMOLITION AND CONSTRUCTION TOOK PLACE WHILE THE LOWER FLOORS REMAINED FULLY OCCUPIED BY TENANTS

Planinhalt

Bauherrschaft

Bauobjekt

Ansicht NordostMasstabDIN A4Grösse 1:333

ANSICHTEN

rauti - huus

1020 4

055Bauobjekt

Aufstockung "rauti-huus"

PlaninhaltBauobjekt

Axonometrie

DIN A4Grösse

055Bauobjekt

Aufstockung "rauti-huus"

Designed in 1947 by Rudolf Kuhn, the house

constitutes an ensemble together with the

building located at Albisriederstrasse 226. With

its consistent urban appearance, delicate façade

modulations, the rhythmical structures of the

staircase towers, and large and brightly illumi-

nated entrance areas, it represents the industrial

architecture of the late 1940s. The alterations

and additions of the 1960s were removed and the

four-story concrete frame industrial building

augmented by an added timber element structure

that draws references to the basic structure. The

first three floors of the industrial icon, which now

consists of a six-floor structure, is used for offices

and laboratories, while the top three floors are

purely residential.

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SPATIAL IMMERSIONDESPITE THEIR SEEMINGLY SIMPLE STRUCTURE, THE GENEROUSLY PROPORTIONED LOFTS ARE INTERTWINED IN A COMPLICATED MANNER, CREATING A UNIQUE SPATIAL IMMERSION THAT CONTINUES ALONG THE EXTERIOR TERRACES.