Named Two In One Villa, the building contains a pair of three-storey apartments separated by a party wall. Both have their own front doors and one is significantly larger than the other.

Grône-based clavienrossier gave the building a hexagonal plan to break down its scale, then used a uniform pale-grey concrete for all six elevations.

"The split geometry of the facades makes it difficult to get a grasp of the real size of the building, giving each individual facade a more domestic scale," say the architects.

Larch-framed doors, windows and skylights puncture the walls and roof. Many of them are recessed to create balconies and terraces on every floor, but they follow a rectilinear grid rather than the angles of the walls.

Combined kitchen and living rooms occupy the ground floors of both apartments, while bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the first and second floors.

The site is flanked by woodland to the south and fields to the west, but has enough space for a large garden with a swimming pool stretching along one edge.

Another project we've featured by clavienrossier is a residence in the Swiss Alps where two concrete volumes sit atop the remains of a stone house. See more houses in Switzerland.

Photography is by Roger Frei.

Here's some more information from clavienrossier:

Two in one villa
Geneva, Switzerland, 2012

The site is located on the edge of a residential zone on the outskirts of Geneva, flanked on its southern border by a forest and opening out to fields to the west. It sits right on the line between the city and nature.

The building, backed by a paved access ramp, is placed in the north-east corner of the site. The space between the building and the forest allows for a swimming pool and a large open garden.

The program includes two apartments of differing size, a continuous party wall separates the two.

A pitched roof over a diamond shaped plan, allows each apartment to have its own orientation. This distinct geometry allows for a greater degree of privacy for the residents and when viewed from the outside, gives the impression of a single unit.

The split geometry of the facades makes it difficult to get a grasp of the real size of the building, giving each individual facade a more domestic scale.

The exterior envelope of the building is entirely composed of integrally-coloured concrete, including the roof. Loggias built out of larch, perforate the facade and the roof of the building.

The building conforms to very high energy standards.

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by clavienrossier appeared first on Dezeen.

The single-storey House in Sonvico is constructed on a 20-metre long concrete slab, which is elevated above the ground on one side to line up with the highest level of the site.

"We and the clients both wanted to create a single-storey house," architect Martino Pedrozzi told Dezeen. "Because of the slope, we invented a level section."

Rather than create an entrance at the point where the building meets the ground, Architetti Pedrozzi e Diaz Saravia designed the house with a hollow centre so that residents climb up from underneath to enter. This arrangement also creates a terrace beneath the building with a swimming pool alongside.

Timber-framed windows sit within the houses's chunky concrete frame. White ceramic tiles clad any walls between and feature a mixture of polished and matte finishes.

The rooms of the house are arranged in sequence around the perimeter, while a corridor runs around the inside. There are also circular rooms inside the columns and one contains a staircases so it can double up as a second entrance.

Other houses completed recently in Switzerland include a family home with a corner missing from its roof and a house with vertical seams. See more Swiss houses on Dezeen.

Photography is by Pino Brioschi.

Here's a project description from Architetti Pedrozzi e Diaz Saravia:

House in Sonvico

A one storey house on a quite steep slope. That was the challenge imposed by topography and client. A most welcome challenge of course: to us one storey architecture is the best condition for good architecture. Its solution stays in the section of the project: a big horizontal prestressed slab of fifteen by twenty metres sitting on the natural land on one hand and laying on two gigantic round pillars on the opposite site. Above twenty pillars sustain the roof. Under a main space is created for outdoor living.

The house structure is external and integrally made in concrete. None of its parts penetrate the internal insulated spaces that are organised around a central void, between slab and roof. Ceramic white tiles, shiny and opaque defining a graphic pattern, contrast with concrete and enclose the indoor living spaces.

Where the house lays on the ground, there is the access. Descending upstream the slope a big porch introduces the house main door. Inside, the square-shaped ground floor is divided between public and private spaces. Public spaces like entrance hall, living room, dining room and studio are placed in the middle of the sides. Private spaces like bedrooms and kitchen find their place in the corners and when it is necessary can be isolated from the rest.

The central void makes the connection between indoor and outdoor living spaces. A staircase leads down to a paved and partially covered surface integrating a swimming pool, a laying and a dining area, surrounded by an impressive natural environment.

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Architetti Pedrozzi e Diaz Saravia appeared first on Dezeen.

Home to a family of four, the two-storey residence is located in Bellmund, an agricultural region on the outskirts of Biel.

EXH Design designed the house with a timber frame and interior, but clad the exterior with corrugated cement-fibre panels that are bolted into place across the walls and roof.

"The industrial panels are a rough and weather-resistant material with low costs," the architects told Dezeen. "In contrast to the modest and functional exterior, the wooden structure is revealed within to give the interior an inviting sense of warmth."

The building features a gabled roof profile with an asymmetric shape. "The structure's 'house' shape maximises its height to ensure views of Lake Biennem," added the architects.

Floor-to-ceiling windows separate the roof terrace from a large second-floor loft, while three bedrooms occupy the first floor and a large living and dining room covers the ground floor.

Large and small windows are also dotted across each elevation and over the sloping roof.

A canopy projects from the southern corner of the building, sheltering a small patio where residents can dine outdoors.

Other houses completed in Switzerland in the last year include a concrete residence with folded elevations and a hillside holiday home in the Swiss Alps. See more architecture in Switzerland.

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

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by EXH Design appeared first on Dezeen.

"The use of raw materials is essential for our work," Wüstemann told Dezeen. "It's that kind of atmosphere we're looking for - authentic surfaces with character."

Describing the concrete structure of the house, he said: "It's about mass and feeling the power. Concrete is a further step in the culture of stony architecture, but it's still a stone and you can feel all the work of the construction behind it."

The two buildings are positioned at different levels of a sloping site, with the swimming pool and pavilion at the lowest level, while the house sits above on the other side of a small garden.

Concrete dominates the walls of the house, but the facade is clad with timber to match the pavilion opposite, which is solely clad with wooden panels.

Frameless walls of glass slide open across the facade of the house, connecting living rooms on the ground and first floors with a terrace and balcony that overlook the lake.

Bedrooms are located on the ground floor, while a movie room, gym and wine cellar are housed in the basement.

We've featured a few projects by Gus Wüstemann, most of which also feature raw materials - see them all here.

Other Swiss houses we've featured include a holiday home in the Alps and a concrete house with folded seams.

See more projects in Switzerland »

Photography is by Bruno Helbling.

Here's a project description from the architects:

2 Verandas

This is a house for a young South African family in Erlenbach, just outside Zurich along the lake.

The plot is in a suburban context and therefor pretty dense with family homes, typical for the area. The site is on a slope, where on top there are beautiful views to the lake with evening sun and at the lower part there is a group of smaller family houses.

The clients asked us for a solution for a house that made the most of the big plot, wanting a view, but not end up with a house on top of the hill and a rest of a garden down below.

Periphery

Our solution for this plot was to occupy the periphery of the site, with the main house on top of the hill and the pool house at the bottom, both houses connected through a solid stony promenade: 2 verandas.

By occupying the periphery: there is one veranda at the top, the promenade is going alongside the eastern boarder of the plot leading to the south end, there is a park in the middle of the site.

The park can be consumed as nature from all three sides and therefor there is no 'left over' land. The stony promenade connects the two verandas, is a site of its own, where you walk or sit and enjoy the view to the lake or the park. With the promenade, the garden moves up to the level of the living room and it connects all levels of the house with the garden.

2 verandas

The main house is a stony, concrete, hammer shaped volume over two levels, that contains the living rooms. In the upper part is the‚ public 'living room for invitations and dining with a beautiful view over the lake of Zurich. On the ground level is the family lounge with an exterior patio that can be joined as one room with the living room. All the windows disappear and the inside and outside patio become one. That patio connects all bedrooms and is a lounge to sit together privately and watch a movie.

The circulations in and out of that space are controlled by concrete volumes at the ceiling that condense the space through mass and light and slow the circulation.

The two rooms are crossed above each other, at the ground floor level we pull a wooden curtain around the concrete volume to create the private sleeping quarters.

The upper living room has a shark fin like shape, so the space is very high at the back of the space with northern sky lights, and is lower at the front to frame the view.

Mass with no windows

The inside and the outside are joined, as we let all the windows disappear, so there is only the concrete mass left. The inside becomes a covered outside space: Mediterranean feeling in the northern hemisphere.

The absence of the window is the essential instrument to actually unite in and outside space; it is the glass itself that reminds us of the border of in and outside. In many projects nowadays this fact is neglected or simply ignored and therefore glass is used in an extensive way.

Mass and light

We chose natural and raw materials like concrete, travertine or wood. The concrete is formed and communicates with the space through light gaps that give that extra feeling of finesse to the shear mass of the concrete. Throughout the whole house indirect lights are giving directions, and attract the periphery of the spaces rather than the centre. The indirect light is creating the atmosphere.

On the underground floor there is a gym, a movie room and wine cellar all arranged around the light up masses of the concrete that give the house a whole different playful area. There is raw concrete and raw wood and therefore a lot of texture.

Basement plan - click above for larger image

Ground floor plan - click above for larger image

First floor plan - click above for larger image

Section - click above for larger image

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Gus Wüstemann appeared first on Dezeen.

An exposed concrete staircase connects the three storeys of Wohnhaus Ginkgo and is suspended behind a balustrade of taught wires between the two upper floors.

A large dormer window increases the amount of inhabitable space on the top floor, which overlooks the corridor on the floor below.

Other Swiss houses on Dezeen include a holiday home in the Alps and a renovated farm building.

See more houses in Switzerland »

Photography is by Börje Müller.

The text below is from on3 architekten:

House Ginkgo

The house is located in the center of Oberwil, in the north of Switzerland.

The neighbourhood is designed by older one family houses and small stores. Due to its geometry, the house offers an unconventional floor plan with comfort, flexibility and space to move.

As the rooms are linked and correspond to each other, they are ideal for family life with space for individual creativity.

The open kitchen and the living room, which are on the same level as the terrace in the garden, form one area.

A large glass facade is the only separation between the interior and the external space. The two upper floors offer private rooms, seperated by sliding doors.

Site plan- click above for larger image

The gallery in the attic gives a wonderful view over the roofs of Oberwil and completes the concept of the flexible and open floor plans. The centre of the house is a stair made of exposed concrete.

Ground floor plan- click above for larger image

It connects the house in the vertical.

First floor plan- click above for larger image

The robust and massive concrete sets a contrast to the fine, light white oak parquet floor.

Second floor plan- click above for larger image

A special feature of the house is the frameless, partly room-high glazing.

Longitudinal section- click above for larger image

Thematically, they are used in every room and open the house to the external space. Thus, the rooms receive a generous, light and friendly atmosphere.

Cross section- click above for larger image

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by on3 architekten appeared first on Dezeen.