L3P Architekten ETH FH SIA AG

Duplex House

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

DUPLEX HOUSE

L3P Architects

ARCHITECTS
L3P Architects

PHOTOGRAPHS
Sabrina Scheja

AREA
637.0 m²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
Ennetbaden, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

Despite the small block of land (637m2), a generous duplex house has been developed in an architecturally heterogeneous neighbourhood on the south face of Ennetbaden, which, in reference to organisation, takes an interesting and unconventional path.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

The floor-plan volume is comprised of distorted rectangles. The architectsdissected the volume at diverse sites. Besides the resulting attractive remaining volume, each of these dissections is intended to fulfil an additional function:

1. The cut in the north of the ground floor allows a north-side access to the house.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

2. The breach on the ground floor allows access to the garden area which is used by both parties living in the house.

3. The cut in the south side of the ground floor presents the party in the lower house with the covered south terrace, which is contained within the main rectangle.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

4. Both of the volume cuts in the attic provide the party in the upper house with south and north terraces.

The duplex house is not readable from the outside. The main surface are rendered with a horizontal brush with a 6mm render, treated and painted in a subtle green tone.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

On the contrary, the dissected surfaces are treated with a 0.5mm fine render in a brown colour scheme, thus machining an additional volume cut.

The windows are also treated in two colours: the protruding, box-shaped constructions are kept aluminium-coloured externally, while the small-formed windows that are flush with the exterior surface, as well as the shutters, appear in golden tones.

The interior of the two units are intrinsically different. The valley-side unit stretches below from the naturally-lit sleeping area over the ground floor, including the living / dining / kitchen area, up to the upper floor encompassing the bedrooms.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

The continuous staircase leaning on the fire division wall serves as a connection to the third floor, building a formative element of the interior. The two-storey living area is completed without the usual accessibility, thus gaining power and dynamic.

The design of the interior with its exposed cast concrete ceilings, floors and partial walls, as well as the white kitchen with cast concrete exposure gives an archaic impression.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

The hillside unit stretches over four floors which are combined through a central core. The common utilities management and workshop is found in the basement. The ground floor with its entry and wardrobe only serves as a collection point to the upper floors with the bedrooms.

The formative element here is the access to the overlapping staircase, which changes direction and entry-side with every floor. In the attic storey, the core of the unit is lighted from abovewith polygonal apertures in the wall and roof.

The surrounding living, dining and kitchen area are arranged on the south and north-sided terraces. The view to the south from the timber decking and the intensive roof-greening are breath-taking.

Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja
Duplex House
© Sabrina Scheja

For the materialisation a mixture of cast concrete and oak parquet flooring in combination with exposed concrete ceilings and partial walls was chosen.


Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects
Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects


Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects
Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects
Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects
Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects
Duplex House
Courtesy of L3P Architects

L3P Architekten ETH FH SIA AG
T +41 44 8531000 F +41 44 8533139
L3P Architekten ETH FH SIA AG
Unterburg 33, 8158 Regensberg, Switzerland