Apartment house Zwinghof, Neerach

The project
The Zwinghof in Neerach had not been used as a farm for some time. Therefore, the owner, Axenstein Park AG, had the barn and the residential house replaced by new buildings made of wood. The two new houses have the same appearance as the original buildings. Instead of the barn, three apartments were built side by side. The apartments in the volume of the former barn extend over three floors, some of them with rooms spanning several floors, which are accessed via the inner staircase. The first floor is used for living: here are located the living and dining rooms and the kitchen. The bedrooms are located on the upper floor and in the roof.

The construction
Starting with the concrete floor slab, the new residential units are made of wood. The walls are made of cross-laminated timber, the ceilings and the roof of hollow box elements.he bracing to transfer the forces of wind and earthquakes into the ground is provided by the timber walls. The new Zwinghof buildings are just over 11 meters high and belong to the category of medium-high buildings in terms of fire protection. They must therefore be designed for a fire resistance of 60 minutes. The individual parts of the building were separated from each other by fire walls.

The challenge
The space of the three residential units in the volume of the former barn is limited. For the timber construction engineers, the challenge was to accommodate all the required applications in this confined space and also to be able to meet the requirements in terms of fire protection.