Press Release
Flexhouse Residential building by Evolution Design Is Granted the Golden A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Evolution Design honored for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2016 - 2017 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 19, 2017 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Flexhouse Residential building by Evolution Design has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The result belongs to the 2016 - 2017 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Golden A' Design Award Means
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About Flexhouse Residential building
Flexhouse is a single-family home on Lake Zurich in Switzerland. Built on a challenging triangular plot of land, squeezed between the railway line and the local access road, Flexhouse is the result of overcoming many architectural challenges: restrictive boundary distances and building volume, triangular shape of the plot, restrictions regarding local vernacular. The resulting building with its wide walls of glass and a ribbon-like white façade is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural place to dock.
About Evolution Design
Evolution Design is a Swiss architecture and design studio that focuses on human-centred design solutions. The practice was founded in 2004 from the passion and drive of Stefan Camenzind to create a new level of client-focused design solutions. Today, the studio has offices in Zurich and London and employs a team of 20 architects and designers. Since 2014, Evolution Design is a partnership between executive director Stefan Camenzind, creative director Tanya Ruegg and technical director Marco Noch.
Award Record
Evolution Design is a winner of 5 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards span the editions from 2015 - 2016 to 2016 - 2017 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/53244
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/53244
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!53244
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/151217
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://goo.gl/8LFm0P
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Flexhouse Residential building
- Function
- Residential building
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Dark Slate Blue, Royal Blue, Midnight Blue and Maroon
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Evolution Design
- Country
- Switzerland
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2016 - 2017
- Design ID
- #53244
Credits
- Team
- Stefan Camenzind, Marco Noch, Patrick Uihlein, Mark Pinter, Silke Ebner, Vanessa Riecke
- Image Credits
- Photographer Peter Wuermli, 2016.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Flexhouse is an exclusive family house situated on picturesque Lake Zurich in Switzerland with a striking exterior architecture and breathtaking 180degree views across the lake to the mountains beyond. With its wide walls of glass and ribbon like white facade that winds its way around the building, this stunning three story home is so light and mobile in appearance that it resembles a futuristic vessel that has sailed in from the lake and found itself a natural place to dock.
- Inspiration
- The dynamic character of the location with the movement of trains and the building plot sitting above the street level inspired architect to develop a concept, which interprets the transient nature of this plot and creates soft transitions between the building, the plot and the landscape. The round shaped end-facades connect the building with the landscape and reflect the dynamic location. The transparency of the glass façades interlocks the outside with the inside, enabling movement of views.
- Research
- The rules of boundary distance and building volume for this plot were particularly challenging; the plot at first sight looked too small to build on. Only due to negotiating the right to build closer to the railway track, the minimal building width could be increased to still very narrow 4.3 meters. Therefore the chosen design concept features a floor plan that goes from wide to narrow to follow the railway lines and shape of the plot.
- Challenge
- Flexhouse lies within a village, and the building regulations required the new-build respond to the context of vernacular style of the area. To get the approval for a contemporary design, architects undertook an in depth survey to assess the timeline of the various building styles of the area. The analysis proved: the area reflected the tradition of changing building styles over the past 100 years and Flexhouse's contemporary architecture represented the continuation of this ongoing tradition.
- Realization and Technology
- Flexhouse is constructed with concrete floors, steel columns and prefabricated timber panels. This enables the construction thickness to remain the same for the external curved elements as well as for the internal slabs. This way the white fascia can follow the building shape perfectly. The rounded facades are clad in white aluminum shingles giving a ripple texture effect. The concrete floors are thermally activated with integrated heating pipes, which connect to the ground source heat pump.
- Operation and Interaction
- The external fluidity of the design continues inside with an open plan interior and unbroken views of natural light. On the ground floor, the living room transitions into a dining area and loft style kitchen. Rather than close off individual floors, the design incorporates a double height open space, delivering a glimpse of the bedrooms above. The top floor studio with three glazed façades and two stunning roof terraces is the climax of the continuous flow between the inside and the outside.
- Project Duration and Location
- The building works started in September 2014 and finished in March 2016. Flexhouse is located in Meilen, Switzerland, on Lake Zurich.
- Specifications
- Flexhouse is built on a triangular building plot with a size of 467 m2. The total living area is 173 m2, which is spread across 4 levels: The ground level with the entrance, garage and utility spaces; the 1st floor with the kitchen and living room; the 2nd floor with two bedrooms and bathrooms and the 3rd floor with the studio and two terraces. Building volume is 934 m3. The max. building width is 7.8 m and the min. building width is 4.3 m. The building is 15 m long.
- Keywords
- Flexhouse, residential building, family house, villa, Switzerland
