The Christinger Residence offers fifteen rental apartments designed for seniors.
The project originates from the bequest of Mrs. Christinger, who donated to the municipality a 1,933 m² plot of land and the villa that had been built there in the 1940s. Upon receiving the testament, which dedicated the property to the benefit of the municipality’s senior citizens, the municipality initiated a reflection on the type of housing for a population experiencing declining autonomy.
The architectural concept draws inspiration from both the site’s landscape qualities and the programmatic intent. By re-naturalizing a stream that had once been buried in the garden, the project combines landscape intervention with the building’s typological concept.
Organized around a central patio that extends the outdoor facilities, the residence seeks to avoid the institutional codes. The exterior circulation continues into the patio and provides access to independent apartments. Gradual thresholds clearly mark the transition between shared areas and private entrances, preserving intimacy.
In addition to the patio, several communal spaces are available to residents. A shared kitchen, a gym, a library, a laundry room, and a guest room are shared by the residents.
The character of the patio draws in the language of outdoor design, combining mineral materials: a concrete walkway finished with terrazzo, rammed-earth brick walls, and raw copper light fixtures reinterpret the materiality of the exterior and contribute to the ambiguity of this unheated yet tempered space.
The interior of the apartments features warmer materials: the structure is expressed through exposed larch columns and beams; windows and flooring are made of oak; and caisson slabs are made of timber. The entire construction relies on local timber supply chains and is certified “Swiss Wood” (Bois Suisse).
Through its typology and architectural character, the Home for Seniors (the project’s internal name) offers an alternative to conventional assisted-living housing and extends the autonomy of its residents.
A SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE VISION
The Christinger Residence embodies an exemplary approach to sustainability. By employing bio-based and locally sourced materials (wood, earth, and vegetation) and by harnessing the climatic benefits of the central patio, the project minimizes its carbon footprint while ensuring passive thermal and hygrometric comfort.
Concrete is used sparingly, limited to the semi-underground parking, the elevator shaft, and the external walkways. The rest of the building is entirely made of Swiss wood — from the structural frame and floor slabs to the façade’s fir cladding.
Wherever possible, materials were chosen to further reduce the project’s environmental impact: façades are insulated with wood fiber, interior partitions use recycled plasterboard and cellulose panels, and the patio walls are built from compressed earth bricks.
The patio is an insulated yet unheated space, offering an intermediate climate — warmer in winter and cooler in summer. This environment is regulated through the hygroscopic behavior of the compressed earth bricks, which absorb and release humidity as needed. The system is complemented by operable façade and skylight openings that ventilate the patio and mitigate heat peaks during warmer periods.
The green roof helps reduce heat islands while cooling the photovoltaic and solar-thermal panels, thereby improving their efficiency. A system for water retention and direct discharge into the stream contributes to on-site stormwater management at the parcel scale.
The project also integrates an in-situ reuse strategy. Its construction required the demolition of the existing villa. Prior to demolition, a detailed inventory was carried out to identify elements that could be incorporated into the new building. A “carbon cost – financial cost” assessment guided the selection of deconstructed components eligible for reuse, ensuring a balanced approach between environmental impact and economic feasibility.
A reuse action plan was established to organize the careful dismantling, storage (in a municipal facility), and reuse of these elements.
Solid wood flooring, door and cabinet panels were reused in one of the apartments, preserving a tangible trace of Mrs. Christinger’s legacy within the new project. Other components from her garden — gravel, stone, and concrete — were also reinterpreted in the landscape design.
Although modest in scale, this experimental reuse process helped refine a method that can be applied to future projects.
