Dietlimoos Housing Development

Study commission 1st prize – On the last large, still undeveloped area in Adliswil a lively quarter with a variety of functions is being created. While Dietlimoos housing development offers attractive landscape spaces, on the east side it has to react to the noise of traffic on the nearby motorway. The proposals for three of the plots convinced the competition jury technically and in terms of typology and design. Together with the seven other plots they produce a unity that has its own specific material atmosphere.
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As part of the dense building development in Adliswil a new quarter with housing and businesses is being created. A design plan by Theo Hotz Partner AG dating from 2014 provided the basis for this development. For the seven plots defined in this plan individual study commissions were carried out. Fischer Architekten were awarded the contract for building plots A2, A4 and A5, all three of which border on the A3 motorway.

Because of its comparatively small area, building plot A2 responds to the dominant problem of noise with a roughly L-shaped building. It opens towards Uetliberg and forms an intimate outdoor space with a courtyard-like character that is additionally strengthened by a pergola with planting that runs along the site boundary. All the apartments extend through the depth of the building. The night-time rooms are oriented towards the calm courtyard, and the kitchens, bathroom and staircases face the motorway in the east.

The size of building plots A4 and A5 allow two block edge buildings to be made, each with a quiet internal courtyard. All the apartments have two loggias, one facing inwards and one outwards. On the external facades these loggias are integrated flush with the wall plane, whereas in the courtyard they project slightly beyond the façade, creating a playful atmosphere. In the corner apartments a special floor plan typology is used: “canted” corners allow the flats to be divided into two units, each with two loggias and plenty of daylight.

The facades are made of robust high-quality brickwork in different shades of light beige, a reference to the high proportion of clay in the building ground, which gives the street silhouette in particular a strongly expressive identity. The material allows varied modulation with projections and recesses that, through the play of light and shade, produce a highly plastic and very individual character. The different shades of the brickwork make the facade appear light and playful. While the articulation creates a strong sculptural quality, the emphasis of the vertical brick pilaster strips creates a noticeably clear structure.

The facade of Giovanni Muzio’s Case Bonaiti e Malugani in Milan, which stands in a direct urban context at an interface in the city fabric, served a reference for the design. A study was made of this building’s details such as the projections and recesses in the vertical and horizontal and the surrounds to the window openings and loggias.