The begining
The story of the three-apartment building situated at the east entrance to the emblematic Liebefeld neighborhood begins with the wish to be the first Minergie-P-Eco certified multi-family house in Switzerland. The Swiss "Minergie" sustainability label consists in designing a building more energetically efficient than a project who fulfills the minimal building market requirements. The "P" letter stays for the Passive House standards and the "Eco" for the recyclability of the materials in use and the noise reduction of the construction and maintenance process.
Despite the difficult, triangular building perimeter the new house managed to meet the needed qualifications in order to take the first place on the list of the certified sustainable homes in Switzerland.
The design process
The new house is built on the traces of the ground-level garages at the corner of a group of six multi-family buildings. The choice of the form, although predetermined by the narrow parcel of land, strikes with the ingenious decision making. It manages a delicate transition between regular and irregular urban geometry and frames elegantly the street and the walkway. The wooden screen of vertical timber slats leads the pedestrians to the green pathway, whereas the concrete and cellulose based sandwich panels on the north street side speak about the neatness of the neighboring plastered houses.
The concrete staircase along with the rest of the service and distribution areas are cleverly placed in the north part of the building. This makes possible the free arrangement of day and night areas. In order to leave enough outside space to every inhabitant, the bedrooms and the living rooms are bordered by a vast balcony, ending in a cosy terrace at the south-west end of the building.
The entirely glazed south-east and south-west façades could seem rather inefficient. However the high quality triple glazing and the efficient orientation, encouraging the passive solar gain, minimize the heat loss in winter. The balcony on its turn, designed with warm colored, wooden roller blinds, provides precious shading in summer, as well as privacy protection all year long.
Thanks to natural and untreated building materials in combination with heat-recovery ventilation, the quality of the indoor air is reported to be very high.
The Epilogue
The project is a good example of integrated design in residential building. The high energy efficiency is a result of thoughtful technological use and high-quality, simple construction. Although years have passed, the building still remains as an outstanding example of contemporary sustainable architecture with a glance into the future.
