A Residence made entirely of Swiss Timber, Köniz

The Project

The Arborea residential building is located on a quiet residential street near the center of Köniz and only a few minutes' walk from the train station. There are 21 apartments in the five-story house. The residential units have 2.5 to 4.5 rooms and are between 53 and 108 square meters in size. The apartments are accessible through the arcades. The new residential building has been designed for tenants "who combine their idea of urban living with proximity to the city center, an environmentally friendly lifestyle and openness". For example, the arcades are shared and a common room is available to the tenants.    

The Construction

The special features of the residential building: the outer arcade, through which the residents can enter their apartments.  

is statically completely uncoupled from the timber cube. The arcades are supported by curved concrete columns reminiscent of tree trunks.  

The residential building is a timber construction. The interior walls made of solid timber panels are load-bearing and stiffening. The entire horizontal bracing was thus solved via the timber construction, i.e. via the inner walls, and not, as is so often the case, via a concrete core. The residential building also gets along without steel girders. All the timber used for Arborea comes from Switzerland.  

The façade is made of untreated timber from white firs from the Emmental, the window frames of larch timber and the fire-resistant windows of oak. The building has a very well insulated building envelope. Design and materialization of the façade support the passive use of solar energy. Solar collectors cover the flat roof almost completely and supply the house with the necessary residual energy.