Within the historic park of an 19th century villa above the Stadelhofen Train Station, two new residential buildings have been inserted, forming an ensemble with the existing villa. Both are apartment blocks with each unit occupying an entire floor, designed with ‘empty nesters’ as the primary users.
The buildings are offset from one another for viewing privacy between units. The entry courtyard is paved with native granite sheets inserted into sand, leading both to the
garage and stair entry halls. The apartments are organized as flexible spaces with views in all directions. The living room can encompass one or two rooms; alternately a single room can be rented separately and used for guests or a nurse.
The continuous glazed facade offers an impressive view to the park landscape. Residents can vary their degree of privacy with moveable internal wall panels and external metal shade curtains. An exterior patio can be opened to the landscape or glass enclosed for use as a winter garden. The design strategy is to allow maximum variation of living space configurations for each resident.