Garden Tower

Designed by Buchner Bründler Architekten in Köniz, Switzerland, Garden Tower is a high-rise apartment building with an amorphous shape, which resists any clear typological classification.

A diverse range of housing options is planned for the site in Bächtelen, Switzerland, which in order to fit in with the existing heterogeneity of the surrounding area is not planned as a large-scale development or homogeneous housing typology.

The project theme living with a view led to the design of a new form of high-rise apartment building with an amorphous form, which resists any clear typological classification. The tower block is formed on a polygonal footprint and extends its floor area as it rises vertically. It is open on all sides, emphasizing the relationship with the landscape. The building is set back from the street. The resulting gap in the pattern of development reflects the new building sequence. The building rises out of the ascending topography into the form of a tower.

The concrete slabs, which project on all sides, create a rock-like effect. A rhomboid- patterned metallic mesh is stretched over the porous structure. The fields of view resulting from partial incisions are framed by large metal frames.  The different uses of the encircling balcony slabs determine their form and are developed into the architectural leitmotif.

The resulting marginal contour can be read as a re-drawing of the topography of the mountains. The garden develops vertically over the metal mesh enclosing the rock-like main structure, providing shade. The planting is harmonized with the development of the building and its orientation. The floor plans of the apartments are open and determined by their multifaceted orientation and the priority given to free circulation.

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, Köniz, Switzerland, 2016

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, site plan

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, ground floor

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, first floor

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, 15th floor

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, 16th floor

Buchner Bründler Architekten, Garden Tower, section

Garden Tower, Köniz, Switzerland
Program: housing
Architects: Buchner Bründler Architekten (Andreas Bründler, Daniel Buchner)
Associates: Bülend Yigin, Stefan Oehy
Project management: Jonas Staehelin, Achim Widjaja, Florian Rink, Henrik Månsson
Project team: Felix Engelhardt, Ewa Misiewicz, Hellade Miozzari, Stefan Herrmann, Chiara Friedl, Fatima Blötzer, Jan Borner, Reto Gasser, Michael Gunti, Michael Glaser, Nadine Strasser, Christian Käser, Jonas Virsik, Carlos Unten Kanashiro
Completion: 2016

Garden Tower

Designed by Buchner Bründler Architekten in Köniz, Switzerland, Garden Tower is a high-rise apartment building with an amorphous shape, which resists any clear typological classification.

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