The apartment building on Aarauerstrasse was designed and constructed in 1954 by a local engineer in collaboration with a master builder. With its well-proportioned façade, ribbon windows and tapered, recessed balconies, it stands as a thoughtfully designed example of its era.

A failing drainage stack prompted comprehensive renovations of the bathrooms and kitchens. The depth of intervention was carefully aligned with the remaining life cycle of the building fabric. From today’s perspective, the main rooms are relatively narrow, the load-bearing structure is modestly dimensioned, and the floor assemblies fall short of current acoustic standards. The recessed balconies also remain problematic from an energy-efficiency standpoint. As a result, the building has been assigned a residual lifespan of 20 to 30 years.

The refurbishment of the vertical services zone was used as an opportunity to renovate bathrooms and kitchens. Merging the WC with the bathroom created space for a larger kitchen in the 3.5-room apartments, and for a storage room in the 2.5-room unit. Wide new openings across the corridors provide a more open connection between street and courtyard. Precast terrazzo slabs reinterpret the spirit of the original structure in this central zone.

On the residential side, living and sleeping spaces were combined. Tapered wall elements echo the geometry of the recessed balconies and give the living area a clearer spatial frame with a contemporary tone. In the 3.5-room apartments, this layout creates a central dining area in front of the balcony. The spatial sequence continues into a small studio that can be closed off with a sliding door – ideal as a workspace or nursery. This new cross-orientation helps to balance the slightly narrow proportions of the original layout. In the 2.5-room unit, similar elements separate the eat-in kitchen from the living area. Freely laid oak parquet with a surrounding border supports the sense of a spatial enfilade.

We retained the color concept of the façade developed in the eighties by the regionally known artist Hans Anliker.

Client Private

Services Baumgartner + Partner General planning, Architecture, Construction management

Colaboration
Emina Rastoder, Jaime Gil Simoes, Thomas Baumgartner Gsell

Planning Team Civil Engineer: MWV Bauingenieure AG, Baden HLKKS engineer: Hossle GmbH, Brugg Building physicist: Amstein + Walthert, Zurich

Realization August 2018 to March 2019