Modification of the house Untergütsch
The Gütsch residential area in Lucerne is located in the utmost west of the city, adjacent to the Gütschwald. The east-facing slope of the Sonnenberg and Gütsch, except from a few country houses and guest houses, remained undeveloped until the 20th century.
Today he’s built up to the edge of the forest. One-, two- and multi-family houses, standing in gardens and originating from all sections of the 20th century, form a heterogeneous, though-greened building carpet. An exception is the property of the cooperative Untergütsch. In the inter-war period, she built 80 single- and two-family houses on the rising terrain between Bruchmatt and Gütsch. Four different types of house have been developed for the special situation with a strong slope and forest cover.
The small family house on Untergütschstrasse 8 was built in 1927. It is classed as the house type 3, the smallest type of house of the cooperative with cellar rooms on the ground floor, two rooms with kitchen on the ground floor and two rooms with bathroom on the upper floor. Over the years, the house has always been renovated, with the basic substance remaining unchanged. The house is very well preserved in today's condition, the massive exterior wall with the rough trowel plaster intact. But the small rooms and narrow corridors no longer corresponded to the current needs and a change of ownership allowed the renovation and the conversion of the house.
The cut-out of a large staircase in the existing concrete staircase on the garden floor and the release of the enclosed staircase system under the roof create the inner-space dramaturgy and improve the lighting management.
The narrow and small-scale interior space of the modest single-family house is broken down with a few targeted wall openings in the living area, creating a spacious living space. The new floor in the living room made of wide, solid fir wood ties the formerly small rooms into a conglomerate spatial structure. The many existing small openings of the rooms link the living room and the kitchen axially and allow new space diagonals through the entire floor. The cultivation of a level terrace on the kitchen connects the living room with the differentiated exterior spaces.
In the new entrance on the garden floor, a spacious hall acts as a turntable, from where the free-standing staircase system makes all the rooms in the upper floors accessible and creates an elevated staircase space below the existing roof. The bathrooms and kitchen are refurbished and completely renewed. The space program is supplemented with fitted wardrobes, storeroom and guest bathroom in the floorboard, which increases the functionality and quality of life of the residents.
The renovation of the facade follows the original color scheme and materialization. The most obvious parts of the intervention are the new openings in the garden and ground floor, which follow the models in the structure and the proportions as well as the materialization of the replaced windows.
