Bünzli Courvoisier - Switzerland
Apartment Buildings Hagenbuchrain
Triemlistrasse / Hagenbuchrain, Zürich
2004

The Zurich based architectural office of Samuel Bünzli and Simon Courvoisier won the competition for the cooperative housing development Hagenbuchrain
in Zurich-Albisrieden
in summer 2000. The residential complex includes 41 apartments of various sizes, as well as studios, workshop rooms and offices of the cooperative.
The special challenge in this task were the urbanistic conditions. The sloping site
at the foot of the Uetliberg is vegetated with fruit trees, creating a real outskirts idyll.
However, the area was fragmented by different ownership and roads. The surrounding, small-scale and edification is
dispersed and made it additionally difficult to
integrate the new development, and this challenge was even more increased by
the so-called "areal bonus", allowing that the usual exploitation to be significantly exceeded.
The proposal by Bünzli & Courvoisier provides six similar buildings. Due to the jutting wings of the buildings the dimensions of the volumes are withdrawn of perception.
The new buildings are adequately integrated in relation to the scale of the built environment. Simple volumetric manipulations of these blocks cause
a specific and natural integration into the quarters.

The cubic cut volumes are built of solid brick masonry and were plastered and painted beige an the exterior, so that they are of an unobtrusiveley and functionalistic appearance.
The façades are marked by the regular arrangement of horizontal window openings. The window sills made of artificial stone convey an unexpected quality of craftsmanship,
in comparision to the then usual sheet metal window sills. A special feature of the apartments are the living rooms, which are located at the ends of each wing of the building.
This arrangement results in a three-sided orientation of the living and dining room of a generosity, which is unparalleled in cooperative housing.
Within the tight specifications
t
he spacious area of 44 square meters could only be achieved by incorporating a bedroom into the living room. The first tenants was offered to opt for more living space or
for more rooms, two-thirds of of the new residents chose the spacious, three sides oriented living room. All apartments feature a wide central aisle, of representative
appearance and reminiscent of bourgeois apartments. Contrary to the contemporary trend, the kitchens are separated from the living-dining rooms. The kitchens are each
 in a spatial relationship to the loggia, which has been completely lined in wood. The apartments are not only convincing through the thoughtful and carefully structured plan,
but also by the high quality of selected materials and its processing. Compared with the cooperative standards, these buildings exude solidity and longevity. The windows
are made of oak and covered on the outside with bronze. The walls of the apartments are realized with a smooth white plaster. The floors are made of oak parquet and mosaic tiles.