Apartment house, Küsnacht ZH

The project
The apartment building in Küsnacht near Zurich was built to replace a house that was getting on in years. It is centrally located in the immediate vicinity of the Küsnacht-Goldbach train station and numerous stores, restaurants and banks. The building has four floors, each with a spacious apartment from whose terraces the residents can enjoy the view over Lake Zurich. The architects took care to ensure that the simple volume, with its classic tripartite division of base, middle section and roof projecting on all sides, fits in well with the structure of the existing neighborhood.

The construction
In the case of the residential building, everything above ground level was constructed in wood. The walls, ceilings, facade, staircase and elevator shaft are all made of wood. In order to ensure sound insulation, the solid wood floor slabs were covered with chippings. A photovoltaic system for energy generation was installed on the roof of the apartment building, which meets the Minergie^®-P standard.

The challenge
The heavy concrete stair elements in the light-flooded stairwell had to be supported on the lightweight, encapsulated wooden structure. Another challenge was to realize the entire bracing of the building over the interior and exterior walls made of wood.