Privately owned house | Sugiez, Fribourg
Realization: 2006 - 2007
Owner of the project: private
Type of mandate: direct
Architecture: ds architecte
Collaborator(s): Dominique Schmutz
Construction management: DS Architecte
Static: Interaction Ingénierie, Bulle
Photographies: Michael Fontana, Bâle; Caroline Wagschal, Fribourg
Useable area: 299 m2
Construction program
Four rental apartments in the middle of the village of Sugiez, Fribourg, Switzerland;
Demolition and reconstruction of the rural L-shaped house from 1910; construction of a duplex with garden and a two-room attic apartment.
Conservation of the “housing” wing; renovation of the original apartment and creation of a loft in the attic.
Design
The principle of conserving the volumes of the village fabric, the situation in the village islet and the state of the existing construction dictated the urbanistic, architectural and constructive concept of the project, i.e. to create a mix between “old” and “new” in a coherent whole.
Each apartment, based on its size and conception, is given an appropriate design that harmonizes with the site – be it the lake, the vineyard and the Jura. A duplex with an independent entrance is linked to the gardens that extend to the vineyard. An open and semi-public passage is created on the first floor to favour the north-south connection of the island.
The small apartments, connected by the extension of the original stairwell, offer diversified views of the landscape depending on their orientation.
Construction
A constructive solution was found and carried out by using raw and noble materials. The sandblasted concrete of the building base and the window sills are made of a mixture of Jura stone and white cement. It evokes the yellow stone embrasures of winegrowers’ houses. The architectural elements comply with regional building codes, namely a building body composed of a double wall in terracotta brick with mineral plaster without paint, and a roof in natural red terracotta tile. The main façade – composed of large pine windows, roller blinds also in pine, and skylights in zinc tinwork – underlines the contemporary intervention through an abundant supply of light. Inside, the sober character of the rooms reflects both the new and old, by incorporating authentic materials and construction methods.