Nossenhaus – Switzerland

The Nossenhaus is the second oldest building in Andermatt, Switzerland. The listed building dates back to 1620, and was formerly used to house livestock and store agricultural goods. Having fallen into disrepair, our practice in collaboration with Ruedi Kreienbühl, were commissioned to transform this ruin, which was originally occupied by several families across four small apartments, livestock on the ground floor and food stores in the roof. Preserving the sense of shared spaces, Nossenhaus is now a multifamily dwelling on the upper levels and a bar below, with new materials selected to fade into the older elements over time.

The cobbled streets have seen many inhabitants of Nossenhaus over the centuries. The building exuded an ancient and heavy appearance in congruence with the age of the building which is discernible from the approach. In balance, the exterior bares a new playful manner in its addition of reinstated terraces and peeking dormers constructed sustainably from locally sourced pine and weathered timber cladding, and below the facades were treated with a natural and breathable render to improve thermal performance for its new domestic use.

Before the intervention, many spaces confined within low ceilings and tertiary build up. The existing conditions showed the potential to reveal grand volumes and networks of structural elements that were obscured within shallow attic rooms. Utilising what was given, nooks were carved out of ancillary spaces and the materiality that clad the structure also transcend into furniture and inhabitable objects. In contrast to the heavy cobbled street below, the rear of the building offers an almost celestial view overlooking the pitching roofs of the village towards the alpine mountains.