Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2017
Flexhouse Residential building
- A' Design Award 2017 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2017
- CLIENT: Evolution Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 44,650
- Verification code 1888BDC530 · Verify this award
About Flexhouse Residential building
Flexhouse is a single-family home on Lake Zurich in Switzerland. Built on a challenging triangular plot of land, squeezed between the railway line and the local access road, Flexhouse is the result of overcoming many architectural challenges: restrictive boundary distances and building volume, triangular shape of the plot, restrictions regarding local vernacular. The resulting building with its wide walls of glass and a ribbon-like white façade is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural place to dock.
Evolution Design's Flexhouse Residential building exemplifies the contemporary architectural pursuit of fluid, responsive form-making that transcends the orthogonal conventions of traditional residential construction. Situated within a lakeside context, the structure demonstrates a remarkable synthesis of parametric design thinking with pragmatic domestic programming, its undulating envelope suggesting the flowing movement of water or the organic contours of the surrounding landscape. The building's distinctive character emerges from its continuous ribbon-like cladding system, which wraps around multiple stories while maintaining visual coherence through seamlessly curved transitions at corners and level changes. This formal strategy effectively dissolves the conventional distinction between wall and roof, creating instead a unified architectural skin that responds dynamically to changing light conditions. The generous glazing strategy achieves a careful balance between transparency and privacy, offering expansive views while the curved opaque sections provide visual shelter. The material palette demonstrates sophisticated restraint, juxtaposing the smooth precision of the white metal cladding against the rugged authenticity of the gabion stone base, creating a dialogue between refined contemporary intervention and connection to earth. The warm illumination visible through the evening glazing suggests domestic comfort within this formally adventurous shell, affirming that innovative architecture need not sacrifice livability. The building's relationship to its sloped site reveals thoughtful topographical integration, with the gabion walls providing both practical retention and aesthetic grounding. Viewers might contemplate how this structure negotiates between the desire for architectural distinction and the fundamental human need for shelter and belonging.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Flexhouse is an exclusive family house situated on picturesque Lake Zurich in Switzerland with a striking exterior architecture and breathtaking 180degree views across the lake to the mountains beyond. With its wide walls of glass and ribbon like white facade that winds its way around the building, this stunning three story home is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural place to dock.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Flexhouse is built on a triangular building plot with a size of 467 m2. The total living area is 173 m2, which is spread across 4 levels: The ground level with the entrance, garage and utility spaces; the 1st floor with the kitchen and living room; the 2nd floor with two bedrooms and bathrooms and the 3rd floor with the studio and two terraces. Building volume is 934 m3. The max. building width is 7.8 m and the min. building width is 4.3 m. The building is 15 m long.
- Tags
- Flexhouse, residential building, family house, villa, Switzerland
- Production Technology
- Flexhouse is constructed with concrete floors, steel columns and prefabricated timber panels. This enables the construction thickness to remain the same for the external curved elements as well as for the internal slabs. This way the white fascia can follow the building shape perfectly. The rounded facades are clad in white aluminum shingles giving a ripple texture effect. The concrete floors are thermally activated with integrated heating pipes, which connect to the ground source heat pump.
- Design Challenge
- Flexhouse lies within a village, and the building regulations required the new-build respond to the context of vernacular style of the area. To get the approval for a contemporary design, architects undertook an in depth survey to assess the timeline of the various building styles of the area. The analysis proved: the area reflected the tradition of changing building styles over the past 100 years and Flexhouse's contemporary architecture represented the continuation of this ongoing tradition.
- Project Duration
- The building works started in September 2014 and finished in March 2016. Flexhouse is located in Meilen, Switzerland, on Lake Zurich.
- Operation Flow
- The external fluidity of the design continues inside with an open plan interior and unbroken views of natural light. On the ground floor, the living room transitions into a dining area and loft style kitchen. Rather than close off individual floors, the design incorporates a double height open space, delivering a glimpse of the bedrooms above. The top floor studio with three glazed façades and two stunning roof terraces is the climax of the continuous flow between the inside and the outside.
- Research
- The rules of boundary distance and building volume for this plot were particularly challenging; the plot at first sight looked too small to build on. Only due to negotiating the right to build closer to the railway track, the minimal building width could be increased to still very narrow 4.3 meters. Therefore the chosen design concept features a floor plan that goes from wide to narrow to follow the railway lines and shape of the plot.
- Inspiration
- The dynamic character of the location with the movement of trains and the building plot sitting above the street level inspired architect to develop a concept, which interprets the transient nature of this plot and creates soft transitions between the building, the plot and the landscape. The round shaped end-facades connect the building with the landscape and reflect the dynamic location. The transparency of the glass façades interlocks the outside with the inside, enabling movement of views.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016. Image #2: Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016. Image #3: Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016. Image #4: Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016. Image #5: Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Evolution Design, 2016