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.

News: construction is underway on an outdoor bathing lake in Riehen, Switzerland, by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

Naturbad Riehen will be filled with natural water without chlorine or chemical additives and is designed to accommodate 2000 bathers per day. As well as the pool for bathers, the Naturbad will incorporate a series of biological water treatment basins embedded in a sloping field on the other side of the road.

Herzog & de Meuron originally won a competition to design a municipal pool for Riehen in 1979, but the scheme was shelved in 1982. The Swiss architects were then commissioned to rethink the concept in 2007, when they abandoned the conventional swimming pool concept in favour of a facility using natural filtration.

The pool is expected to be completed in 2014.

Last month Herzog & de Meuron was among 12 international firms shortlisted to design a new headquarters for the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden, while earlier this year they completed three halls for the Messe Basel exhibition centre – see all architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.

Last year we featured a proposal for a skyscraper in Peru with vertiginous swimming pools sticking out of every apartment and a concept for a pool under an inverted dome at an Istanbul primary school – see all swimming pools.

Above: site plan

Images by Herzog & de Meuron.

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Naturbad Riehen swimming pool appeared first on Dezeen.

"The choice of materials strives to create an abstract ambience," architect Dany Roukoz told Dezeen. "The spaces remain open and incomplete, creating a simple environment in which one can unroll a vivid carpet, hang pictures and lay out personal furniture."

Located to the north of the city in Chailly, the three-storey building was designed by Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects with a triangular plan that stretches right to the corners of its site. Two apartments are located on each floor, while balconies are inserted into the sharply-pointed corners.

"The triangular shape is an approximate extrusion of the site's legal construction limits," said Roukoz. "The layout of the apartments on the lower levels is an orthogonal grid that is only interrupted by the free shape of the facade."

Exposed concrete ceilings run through each room, while the concrete staircase stretches up through the centre of the building adn flooring inside the apartments is timber.

Roukoz explains: "Without any 'coating', we've shown the materials for what they really are."

The exterior of the building is clad with grey render, while windows are surrounded by dark metal frames.

Other buildings by Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects include an office block with a gridded exterior and a spiral staircase. See more architecture in Switzerland.

Photography is by Daniela & Tonatiuh.

Here's some more information from Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects:

Apartment building in Chailly, Lausanne

This building participates to the densification of the northern neighborhoods of Lausanne. Its tectonic derives from the site's shape and a strict compliance with the building code. It addresses the various conditions around it: the street facing elevation underlines the gentle curve of Temple Avenue while the opposite one follows the waving course of the river Vuachere lined by trees. It is simply organized on three levels. Each apartment has a unique open layout extending out with its own private exterior space (garden, balcony and terrace).

Client: Françoise et Eric Hubert-Martinet
Architects: Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects
Civil Engineer: SD ingénierie Lausanne SA
Environmental Engineer: Planair SA

Completed: 2011-2012
Total area: 600 sqm
Volume SIA 116: 2600 m3
Usage coefficient: 0.5
Levels: 3 + Basement
Apartments: 6

Structure: reinforced concrete
Facades: roughcast with metal coating on perimeter insulation
Windows: triple glazing, metal/PVC frames
Heating: district heating

Materials:
Floor - rustic wooden floor
Walls - plaster smoothing finish
Ceiling - exposed concrete

Above: site plan

Above: ground floor plan

Above: first floor plan

Above: second floor plan

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Personeni Raffaele Schärer Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

The Messe Basel, which hosts Art Basel each June, is undergoing a development programme to relocate exhibition areas around the neighbouring Messeplatz public square, so Herzog & de Meuron was asked to replace two of the existing halls with a new extension.

The architects have stacked three ten-metre-high halls on top of one another, creating a 2500-person events space on the ground floor and two additional exhibition rooms above.

Externally, these halls appear slightly displaced from each other. Textured aluminium clads the exterior, creating the impression of a woven facade.

Each hall features a wide-spanning construction to reduce the number of columns, while zig-zagging elevators provide a link between each of the levels.

A ground-floor lobby connects the extension with the existing exhibition halls and a series of shops, bars and restaurants. Glazing surrounds the facade to attract as many visitors inside as possible.

Part of the extension bridges across the Messeplatz and creates a sheltered area that has been dubbed the "City Lounge". A large circular skylight punctures the roof above the space, framing the main entrance into the building.

The New Hall will be officially opened on the 23 April and the old building will be redeveloped and converted into apartments and offices.

Herzog & de Meuron, led by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, also recently completed the Parrish Art Museum, an art gallery on Long Island, New York. See more architecture by Herzog & de Meuron, including interviews we filmed with both architects at the opening of the 2012 Serpentine Gallery pavilion.

Photography is c/o MCH Group AG.

Here's a project description from Herzog & de Meuron:

Messe Basel - New Hall Completed

The New Hall of Messe Basel is complete. Its realization is a key development in the Messe Basel's aim to concentrate its exhibition halls around the Messeplatz (Exhibition Square). The surrounding Kleinbasel district will also benefit from the continuing upgrade of the Messeplatz and, at the same time, regaining former exhibition areas to convert into apartments and offices that will contribute to Basel's urban development. Replacing two out-of-date halls, the new three-storey extension offers modern, flexible and versatile exhibition spaces with wide uninterrupted spans and tall 10m heights.

To provide the required indoor connection to all halls, the extension bridges over the Messeplatz and creates a new covered public space called the City Lounge. This key architectural and urban planning element defines the south end of the Messeplatz and is illuminated from above by a generous circular opening. Open at all times, the City Lounge not only defines the entrance to the fair spaces, but will be a focal point of public life in Kleinbasel.

The New Hall features three levels. The ground floor entrance level seamlessly links the City Lounge to the existing halls, the new event space for 2'500 spectators, and a number of shops, bars and restaurants. The dynamic sweep of the street level facade reacts to the flows of people and corresponds to the space required at the tram stop and entrances to the exhibition centre and Event Hall. Here, large expanses of glass create the spatial transparency both necessary and appropriate in order to achieve the openness envisioned for the exhibition hall complex and the enlivening of public urban life.

The two upper exhibition levels are offset from each other as separate volumes allowing them to respond and shift to specific urban conditions. From each point of view, the new hall offers a different perception and thus avoids the repetitive monotony typical of exhibition halls. This constant architectural variation is reinforced by applying a homogeneous material (aluminum) over all exterior surfaces.

The facade of articulated twisting bands strategically modulates and reduces the scale of the halls large volumes to its surroundings. This is not simply a decorative element but a practical means to regulate the fall of natural light on adjacent properties and to provide views in to the new hall's social spaces and out towards specific views of the city of Basel.

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by Herzog & de Meuron 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.