Dieterdietz

2 Houses In Chigny

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

2 HOUSES IN CHIGNY

dieterdietz.org

ARCHITECTS
dieterdietz.org

CLIENT
Forel/Schrämli, Zurich

CIVIL ENGINEER
Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure AG

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Dieterdietz.org

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Dieter Dietz, Vincent Mermod, Manuel Potterat

CATEGORY
Houses

LOCATION
Chigny, Switzerland

AREA
701.0 m2

YEAR
2017

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

Text description provided by architect.

The intervention by dieterdietz.org immerses itself in an evocative context of a 200-year-old Chestnut tree and a very tall Sycamore in the midst of the vineyards of Chigny (Switzerland) that hide a cluster of carefully proportioned houses dating from the 19th century, which are perfectly integrated into the landscape.

The view opens towards the Lake of Geneva and the French Alps, with the impressive Mont Blanc blurring against the sky: a perfect setting for a very unique project.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

The client requested a design which fostered the coexistence of shared and individual living spaces to provide an opportunity to live independently within a community of friends and their families.

In response to the brief, the refurbishment of one of the 19th-century buildings, formerly a press-house, and the design of a new house was proposed.

The project follows the prevailing characteristics of this rural site, where solitary volumes in conglomerates provide space and shelter for everyday activities.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

By adding a house and following the typology of a barn, a further gravitational mass has been added to the interplay of volumes among the trees.

The garden remains the locus of identity, where the refurbished Pressoir (press-house) and the new Grange (barn) articulate an interstitial court in the uninterrupted landscape.

Chestnuts will fall close to a new roof, built entirely of nano-film coated solar-cells that provide energy for the new and the refurbished houses.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

The layout of each house is structured around a generous-sized room that serves as a social hub for the people living in both houses. Thus, the two houses can be inhabited as one common place.

Likewise, each house can be individually occupied, as both Grange and Pressoir are suited as work-and- living environments with a plan that plays on interstitial thresholds of voids, doors, curtains and sliding panels that gradually negotiate between public and private spheres.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

In their construction principles, the houses rely on a basic palette of materials, which accentuates their genetic similarities and differences.

The press-house is fully refurbished while maintaining its original structure, walls and carpentry. Now exposed and with visible signs of age, these structural elements tell the story of the building. New openings follow the proportions of existing ones, literally being drawn around the facades.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

The exoskeleton of the Grange embodies a reverberation of the exposed roof truss of the Pressoir. In structural consequence, the logical order is reversed and primarily exposed steel is completed by a timber secondary structure.

In architect Dieter Dietz’ words: “These houses offer a frame for the living. Like a canvas is drawn into space that awaits life to complete itself. Users will further define visual and spatial articulation.”

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt

From the inside out, the two buildings orient themselves towards the Lemanic landscape, opening views onto the vineyards and the surrounding orchard.

Over time, they will be fully shaded by trees and growing plants and flowers that climb between the roofs, and reflect the blossoming fusion between housing development and nature.

2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt
2 Houses In Chigny
© Adrien Comte and Mikael Blomfelt


2 Houses In Chigny
Cross section (Lake) 1
2 Houses In Chigny
Cross section (Lake) 2
2 Houses In Chigny
Cross section (Hill) 1
2 Houses In Chigny
Cross section (Hill) 2
2 Houses In Chigny
Longitudinal section


2 Houses In Chigny
North-West elevatrion
2 Houses In Chigny
North-east elevatrion
2 Houses In Chigny
South-East elevatrion
2 Houses In Chigny
South-west elevatrion


2 Houses In Chigny
Ground floor plan
2 Houses In Chigny
First floor plan
2 Houses In Chigny
Rooftop plan
2 Houses In Chigny
Site plan

Dieterdietz
T +41 44 2412200
Dieterdietz