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Architects: Comte/Meuwly
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Ciro Miguel, Pierre Marmy
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Lead Architects: Adrien Comte, Adrien Meuwly, Alexander Schmid, Maya Kleiman
Text description provided by the architects. The House for Almost Everything is the prototype of a reactive living space: a construction able to negotiate with external parameters such as weather conditions or seasonal fluctuations, while transforming itself according to the activities it hosts, from a more intimate house to a generous gathering space.
The project fulfils a dual function: it serves as a home for its residents and as a place available to the village population. It aims to respond to the lack of a community space in the village since the recent closure of the local restaurant, by offering a variety of uses—workshop, exhibition space, dining, yoga, concerts, theater, … almost everything.
This versatility is achieved by a vast room overlooking the orchard to the south, which is freed from any constraining elements by a series of rooms with very specific functions on the other side: entrance hall, bedroom, bathroom, storage, and kitchen. A long pivoting roof, operated by hydraulic arms, allows the space to be fully adjusted. This device enables the house to react to the fluctuating and uncertain parameters of the environment, as well as to the different needs of the potential activities it hosts: from a very open space emphasizing the relationship with the surrounding landscape, capturing as much natural light as possible, to a much more protected space once the roof is tilted downwards.
Originally intended to be dismantled, the neighboring wooden barn at the corner of the field was seen as an opportunity to extend the possibilities offered by the project. In this sense, all the interventions necessary to preserve the existing structure were twisted to increase the range of possibilities offered by the project. For instance, the new second-floor platform that strengthens the existing wooden structure, by being lowered, makes the upper level accessible, doubling the usable area.
All further construction features and details of both the house and the barn support the reactivity of the project, from the glazed façade that can open completely to the different types of curtains that surround the large open space. The responsiveness of the house also lies in its ability to self-regulate the indoor climate and the humidity level of the air it contains: the façades are made of wooden frames and recycled paper insulation, allowing for optimal regulation of the humidity level, which is also maximized by the façade's lightweight membrane.
