Flumserberg House, Swiss Chalet, Cottage, Photo, Design, Picture, Building

Swiss Holiday Cottage

Mountain Residence in Switzerland – design by EM2N, Architects

15 Mar 2008

Holiday Cottage in the Swiss Alps

Location: Flumserberg, canton of St. Gallen, Swiss Alps
Date: 2003
Design: EM2N

Commission: 2002

Flumserberg Holiday Cottage – Project Description

Most holiday houses look identical, i.e. like conventional single-family houses. The topography, character and quality of the location are seldom taken into account in the planning. The houses could just as well come from the catalogue of a company that supplies ready-made homes, their architectural expression is accordingly arbitrary.

Our design refuses to accept colonising a place at this low level, it represents an approach that relates to the place and the wonderful site beside an alpine field that in summer is a meadow and in winter a ski run. On the one hand the house rises vertically in order to capture the spectacular views on all sides, while on the other hand the alpine meadow around the building is left undisturbed.

Apart from a gravel approach route there is no fence, no garden design that alters the appearance of the place. Externally the house varies the ubiquitous theme of the chalet with dark wood cladding and small window openings to create the image of a chalet tower with huge panorama windows.

Where does the difference between everyday and holiday living lie?
As an antithesis to living in separate rooms we developed our design from the hypothesis of a single-room house. There are not separate rooms but only vertical and horizontal zones, each of them fulfilling several functions.
The luxury of the house does not lie in expensive details and materials but in its location and its spaces.

Flumserberg Holiday Cottage – Building Information

Project Name: Holiday Cottage in the Swiss Alps
Location: Flumserberg, Switzerland
Client: private
Project Type: Building
Architects: EM2N : Mathias Mueller / Daniel Niggli, Zurich
Timberconstruction Engineers: Pirmin Jung Ingenieure für Holzbau GmbH, Rain

Commission: 2002
Completion: 2003
Site Area: 630 m2
Built-up Area: 183 m2 (Gross Floor Area), thereof 104 m2 habitable
Costs: EUR 0.29 Mio