Rossetti + Wyss architects

Gottshalden . lake zurich area

Rossetti + Wyss architects . photos: © Jürg Zimmermann . model / collage: © Rossetti+Wyss architects

The house in Gottshalden is located on a plateau over the Lake Zurich. It is set in green surroundings with a high quality of life, dominated by agricultural use. The volume exhibits a unified design, with a reduced, sharp-angled timber facade.

The furniture-like wooden skin defines both walls and rooftops, covering the exterior in a single material, unbroken. The various geometries lend the structure plasticity, while the windows flush with the exterior, are emphasized with lighter-colored reveals.
The L-shaped floor plan is organized vertically as a splitlevel through the use of inserted platforms. Inside, solid exposed oak planks in composite construction form the floors and ceilings.
This visible display of the building’s structure in its ceiling and floor surfaces conveys the warmth of the material into the interior. The alignment of the rooms switches from one story to the next.
Light and shadow, closeness and spaciousness, a cascading staircase: the interiors breathe life in their diversity, inserted with careful precision in the enveloping shell.
The windows frame pictures of the surroundings. Ventilation is provided by means of a series of glazed doors so as not to obstruct the view. At dusk, the house begins to glow with a warm interior life.
The building is reduced to an almost graphical figure, with even the minimal distances to the eaves and corners verging on disappearance.


What makes this house special?
Gottshalden is a highly innovative project that applies custom made products for the construction, façade and the floors. The use of oak as a constructive element is an extra effort that now irradiates warmth throughout the house and mediates the natural qualities of the wood itself. This construction oriented thinking is also reflected in the façade.
The house is designed and executed on the level of wooden furniture.

Name of project: Gottshalden
Location: lake zurich area
Year of completion: 2012
Netto building surface area: 320 m2
Site area: 2’300 m2
Built up area: 162 m2
Credits:
Architektur:
Rossetti + Wyss Architekten AG, Zürich CH
Projektleiter:
Claudio Sticca
Tragkonstruktion:
Dr. Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure AG, Zürich CH
Elektroplanung:
Zürcher Elektroplanungen AG, St. Gallen CH
HLS-Ingenieur:
Geiger AG, Wädenswil CH
Bauphysik:
BWS Bauphysik AG, Winterthur CH
Photos:
©Jürg Zimmermann, Zürich