Weggishof // HHF Architects

Text description provided by the architects.

WEGGISHOF – A Wood-based Sustainable Hybrid Project The sustainable hybrid project Weggishof, a wood-based mixed-use development in Weggis, consists of 39 apartments made of prefabricated wooden elements. These are intersected with a bracing concrete fundament, which houses 1,200 m2 of commercial space – approximately a fifth of the total usable floor area.

All flats, ranging from simple studios to five-room apartments, are double faced and in contact with the green, seasonal and biodiversity-oriented courtyard; a garden/playground, which is a communal meeting place. Weggishof is a pioneering project in the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). A digital workflow was crafted to allow for dimensional steering of the prefabrication of the standardised, wood elements, whose surfaces are left raw for visual impact.

The BIM usage also aided the project’s high sustainability intentions as it facilitates a more precise layering and system separation of structures and materials. Thus future material recycling will be easier and more efficient. The modular metal façade works as what HHF Architects refers to as soft spaces – the often neglected space where private meets the public.

In this case this ambivalent room that receives signals from both directions adds a vivid identity to the public space while adding a layer of privacy – thus acting like an open threshold between the two worlds of prefabricated precision and the untamed landscape with an astonishing alpine panorama.

The building nestles into an existing natural U-shaped slope, which allows for structural diversity.

Storey heights are staggered to let the new building blend in with the surroundings without blocking the view of the lake from existing structures. Interestingly the 39 flats offer a small and large version of each of the different flat types, offering comparable qualities at different scales. In the end Weggishof is so much more than a sustainable housing project – it also adds a new urban expression and a public space in the centre of a small town.

Project: HHFProgram: Housing, CommercialLocation: Weggis, SwitzerlandCommission: Competition, 1st prizeDesign2014 – 2020Status: Finalised in 2021Team HHFHERLACH HARTMANN FROMMENWILER Building Footprint Area2’540 m2Gross Floor Area7’000 m2  Useable Floor Area5’680 m2Building Volume23’900 m3PhotoIwan Baan and Maris MezulisClientEinfache Gesellschaft Amrein-Tellenbach-Widmer.

Weggishof Gallery