House R, Widnau (CH)

The freestanding two-story building is settled confidently into the completely flat alluvial area of the Swiss Rhine Valley. The closed fair-faced concrete cube welcomes its visitor to a light-wood-lined entrance niche. A corridor surrounds the house and breaks up the differentiated structural sculpture. The cooking, dining and living area protrudes into the garden and forms a protective angle with two covered loggias at garden level.
The upper floor accommodates the bedrooms, closed towards the driveway and fully glazed at the garden side. A full-length loggia with wooden flooring is placed in front of the bedrooms, allowing access from all rooms, shading the glass wall and shielding the side views with its wing walls.
Inside, the white walls and ceilings contrast the dark belted floor throughout all the rooms, interrupted only in the bathrooms by bright terrazzo. The built-in furniture in the open kitchen repeats this color scheme. The light shade of massive, knot-free white fir on window frames and façade infill panels complements the material canon, evoking the image of an abstract room sculpture.

Client: private
Location: CH-9443 Widnau
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
Project management: Felix Kruck
Construction: 2012-2013
Area: 197 m²

Partner
site management: Gantenbein+Partner, Berneck / structural engineering: D+S Baustatik, Widnau / HVAC: HWT Intemann, Au / electronics: Schmidtheiny Engineering, Widnau / building physics: Stadlin Bautechnologie, Buchs / landscape: Schelle, Bad Endorf /// photos: © Bruno Klomfar