TRANSFORMATION FLARZHAUS USTER
The transformation consists of one concrete stair that replaces the former steep ladder. The stair structure integrates all technical installations of the house, and all spaces dependent on them inhabit the topography of the stair. A spatial continuum of bath, kitchen, music corner, shower niche and home office emerges, connecting the whole house to its rooftop terrace. These spaces are not conceived as traditional rooms with walls and doors, but as pieces of furniture that occupy specific niches within the spatial topography generated by the stair structure.
This structure also reinforces the existing wooden beams and creates a new structural support in the middle of the house that, due to its light construction, requires only minimal foundations.
The stair structure is conceived in such a way that two floors can always be perceived diagonally and simultaneously. This adds a generous feeling of space inside the existing structure, with ceiling heights of less than 2.0 m.
The transformation bundles all circulation of people, water, heat and electricity within this layer, the western third of the house, which had been modified the most over the years. Accordingly, the entrance is also shifted from the eastern façade to the northern façade, resulting in a space facing the garden that is no longer necessarily used for circulation. In this way, the bottom two spaces could in the future also be separated from the structure once more. In the tradition of the Flarz, they could serve as an independent apartment unit that could be rented out separately.
The transformation thus multiplies the possibilities for appropriating the existing structure, restores the six chambers facing east to their original condition, structurally consolidates the deteriorating house and introduces contemporary and sustainable energy sources and distribution systems.
The geometry of the stair structure makes it possible to construct it from concrete only 52 mm thick, without adding too much additional weight to the structure. This is possible because all folds are structurally activated, as the stair risers act as beams and no horizontal surface of the stair spans more than 1.20 m. These folds also act as supports for the existing deteriorating wooden beams, stabilising the century-old structure.
The structure is mounted to the existing firewalls of the house for stabilisation purposes, but the main forces are carried by one central vertical surface. This ‘wall’ structurally becomes the new central and minimal foundation of the house, introducing all forces into the ground in a tree-like manner.
The vertical extension sits on top of the stair structure and covers it like a tent. It is minimally dimensioned so that it can ensure the legally required height of 2.10 m inside the stair space and accommodate the heat pump. It is also shaped in such a way that neither its length nor its width exceeds the legally permitted maximum of one-third of the building’s width and length. Due to its triangular section, the length of the extension can be measured at half its height.
These internal and external form-generating forces produce a shape defined by three double-curved surfaces.
To keep the extension as light as possible, and to make its tent-like appearance as thin as possible, the construction is conceived using linear, non-bent wooden beams, making it possible to build rationally and quickly. These linear elements then span double-curved segments.
The inserted structure, like a tent, penetrates the existing house and adds a new fragment to the century-old bricolage of the Flarz.
