Studio Gugger | Living in senior age

Urban Design

The courtyard building is positioned in such a way that well-proportioned and clearly defined outdoor spaces with attractive views are created and the house for assisted living can be easily realised in the second phase. The height of the courtyard building has been chosen to create two ground floors, the entrance floor and the courtyard floor.
Thanks to the westward sloping terrain and the angle of the longitudinal building, the house for assisted living can also be integrated into the terrain in such a way that the building is perceived as two-storey from the street at first glance, and at the same time the garden level can be naturally lit on all sides. The low height development and the structuring of the building volumes into relatively short façade lengths are measures to maintain the site-specific scale despite the expansive spatial programme. The chosen roof shape emphasises the structure of the buildings.

Open space concept and accessibility

Coming from Gais, guided by the existing row of trees, visitors are led to the buildings on Gäbrisstrasse by curved, asphalted paths through a park-like green area. The paths not only provide access, but together form a circular path for strolling and widen out into small squares as meeting points and islands of peace for the residents, with benches in the shade of native trees and neighbouring ornamental shrubs.

At the entrance to the home, the paths, bordered by the new buildings and the existing fountain and wash house, unite to form a square. The historic existing buildings form an architectural gem opposite the main entrance and create a welcome spatial intimacy at this location. In keeping with the height of the wash house and well house, the entrance podium is slightly raised above the forecourt.

The centrepiece of the complex is the courtyard in the home building. The imposing existing tree on the current meadow will be given additional years of life in a new environment in the courtyard. The tree forms the communal centre around which visitors can stroll through the lush perennial garden on intersecting, circular concrete paths. In three places, cut surfaces are formed into gravelled areas for activation and as restaurant terraces, while a large fountain provides calming acoustics in the courtyard. The result is a "Hortus conclusus" that appeals to all the senses.

The entire remaining outdoor space will remain an existing meadow, intersected where necessary (emergency exits, fire service access) by narrow paths of gravelled turf, which together connect the surroundings. To the south-west, these paths lead from the wooden summer terraces to the communal planting area, enclosed by a wooden picket fence, where you can garden or simply enjoy the view of the Alpstein.

The architectural appearance is determined by three factors: the regular grid of rooms and flats, the reference to the small-scale and delicate ribbon structure of the Appenzell houses and the structural conditions of the wooden façade.