PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Mountain family home

Expose
On a small piece of land (450 square meters) we would like to build our new home.
The land is located in Switzerland on the top of a beautiful valley and provides a
gorgeous view.
We want to create a new cozy house for a young and active family. We will approx-
imately need about 120 to 180 square meters of living place, a sunny garden and a
garage for the car and the bikes. The Design of our new home should be sustainable.
Therefore, we are looking for a smart combination of esthetics and economics.
The challenge will be to integrate the new house into the mountainous terrain and
enable a comfortable entrance to the house and the parkway for the cars. An old
timber house with an age of more than 100-years is already placed on the property
and must be replaced/demolished.

Version: sch_sebastian@hotmail.com
2021/05/14: initial
2021/05/21: minor revision of translations (p. 1, p. 4), add geolocation (p. 3)
(changes are underlined)
Local building regulations
Because of the bad technical conditions of the current construction, the 100-year-old building must be re-
moved or replaced.

According to the local building regulations, the distance to the property boundary to the building must be
greater than 3.0 meters. Because the current house already reaches the boundary of the property, a recon-
struction of the current building would be possible without restrictions of the boundary distance. Only in
the underground, it is allowed to reach the property boundaries as close as 1.5 meters.

The roof slope must be as steep as 20 to 35 degrees on both sides. The canopy must be greater than 30
centimeters. Up to 1/3 of the roof area can be flat or used as a terrace.
20 to 35 degree

30 centimeters 2/3 1/3

Main challenge
The integration into the terrain is important for the concept. Therefore, the position of the garage and the
position of the terrace is critical.
Another restriction is the direction of the sun and the position of the shadows. Especially the northern part
of the property is supposed to be less sunny and colder than the south.
The best view of the property is towards the valley which is placed in the south-west.
To get the best from the view, the ground floor should be placed on a maximum level. This is important to
have a great view over the western neighbor which is placed in the direction of the best view.

Terrain
The location of the property is in Switzerland and the terrain is very hilly. The gradient of the surrounding
terrain is decreasing from east to west or rather from north-east to south-west. Therefore, the best view
from the property is in the direction of south-west.

There are two retaining walls already constructed on the southern and western side of the property’s
boundaries. The other two boundaries of the property are surrounded by two small roads. One is the ac-
cess road, and one is a dead end road. Because of the sharp descent of the landscape and the retaining
walls, the roof of the western neighbor is slightly higher than the highest point of our property.
Space requirements
Kitchen / living room
The living room and the kitchen should be located on the ground floor.

The kitchen should be the social meeting place of the house. A large workspace and an open cooking-island
with a view to the dining table should be provided.
The living room may be connected to the kitchen. Providing an optional partition wall for noise protection
and to prevent cooking fumes is desirable.
The kitchen, dining and living rooms should be open to the garden, so that when the doors are opened, the
interior and exterior spaces blend seamlessly.

Bedrooms
One masters bedroom and three additional bedrooms should be provided. The entrance area of the master
bedroom should include a dressing room.
Two bedrooms should be able to be used as optional guest rooms with a special entrance from outside the
house. Therefor they should be equipped with a minimal cooking place and a bathroom.

Wardrobe / Hallway
The wardrobe should be placed to have short ways when leaving the house. The direct exit as well as the exit
through the garage should pass the wardrobe without bypasses.

Storage room / cellar

A refrigerated room for food storage or a natural wine cellar would be a great benefit. Therefore, it is im-
portant to have short ways from the kitchen to the cellar or the storage room.

Garage / parking place

The garage should have space for one car and different sport equipment (for example approx. 8 bicycles,
various pairs of skies …). It would be nice to be able to get into the garage straight from the house without
having to walk into the rain. Also, we would like to have two extra outdoor parking places. If the garage has
some extra space for a workbench, it would be a great benefit.

Garden
The garden or the terrace should be reached straight from the kitchen without the need of having to walk
across many stairs. Because of the solar radiation the main part of the garden should not be placed at the
northern side of the house. We like to use the garden for dining, for relaxing and to grow agricultural crops.

Technical / utility room

For the technical accessories as heating (air-heating pump), power supply (solar converter), water boiler, etc.
it is mandatory to have an extra room or enough space in the garage.
Costs / technical requirements
A smart and functional living concept is important for us. Therefore, we would like to have a smart layout
of the rooms. Also, we like designs which include traditional and modern elements. Because of the local
building regulations, it is mandatory to have a canopy and a gable roof. Therefore, some limitation exists
especially for modern designs.
Costs and technical details are not the focus of this study.
For the future project, the cost benefit ratio is significant. Interesting are costs savings which can be
reached by synergies. Intelligent architecture and construction technologies should help to reach high func-
tionalities without the lack of building standards.
Also, a responsible use of resources and a good energy balance is important for us.

Appendix:
DXF-File of the terrain for the current situation
The dxf-file with the accurate conturmap of the current situation is attached to this document.
Video of the current situation
Attached you can find five videos from the property and from the view of the property.
Pictures of the current situation

Property

Attached you can find 11 pictures from the property and from the view of the property. The positions of
the pictures are marked in this overview: