Subtle and with a straightforward architecture the holiday residence completed in 2020 fits perfectly into the contemplative Centovalli valley in Tessin. Open patios and large window fronts facing the park – the new building with its façade design combining anthracite coloured maggia granite and brown wood composite material is a delight. The innovative material was used not only for the façade, but also the patios. A sophisticated wooden look combined with the ‘Compact’ deck’s typical material characteristics convinced both the architecture’s office Bauer-Krieger, as well as the building owners.
Residential Building BUCA 10, Losone (CH)
Patio decks
COMPACT in brown as massive deck
Type of construction
New Construction
Building owner
ANTONINI & GHIDOSSI SA, CH-6500 Bellinzona
Construction year
2020
Location
Losone, Swiss
The Losone community in the Swiss canton Tessin borders on the urban areas of Ascona and Locarna, and is situated near the Lago Maggiore. The long building with a total of 25 apartments is split into eleven slim, lined up units. Each stretches over three floors, two above ground and one on basement level. The living quarters are oriented towards the bordering golf course and the breathtaking landscape of the Terre di Pedemonte. Private gardens with direct access to the apartments, as well as a large outdoor area, are at the same level as the first upper floor. The generous open patios nevertheless provide intimacy and discretion. The building owner was especially intent on using sophisticated materials for the interior design, as well as the façade.
Wood composite materials for facade and patio
’The building owner’s requests for a finely structured building that shouldn’t seem massive,’ says architect Roger Bauer ‘led to an intricate solution fanning the building out into individual slices.’ Just like the dry stone walls typical for the North Tessin the pillars between the individual units were cladded with anthracite-coloured maggia granite. The building owner had originally intended to use wood for the façade cladding in between. In a planning conversation the architects were able to convince him of NATURinFORM’s decks’ low maintenance and weather-resistance. They had used the products for several other patio projects because of their look and for material technological reasons. The characteristic material and colour combination in the façade is also reflected in the grey of the rocks and brown of the soil in the Tessinian landscape.
The brown COMPACT deck from the Bavarian producer’s range was also laid on the apartments’ patio areas, as well as used to clad the ceilings.In the basement area COMPACT was mounted in front of the windows horizontally, using aluminium constructions – each with a gap layer to ensure sufficient light. On the closed façade facing the street the wood composite materials cover almost the complete side and are only interrupted by vertically attached granite strips between the individual segments.
Uniform materiality of facade and floors
For architect Bauer the uniform materiality of facades and floors outdoors was a piece of luck, creating tranquility and harmony throughout the complete ensemble. NATURinFORM’s wood composite material, a contrast both in material and colour to the grey natural stone, is kept in a warm brown shade – a colour that conjures up a fine golden shimmer. The wood composite material’s colours ‘mature’ in the first few months after laying and develop – just as with natural wood – a beautiful patina. This effect is created by the wooden fibres that are kept in shape, unlike wood, by the lightfast colour particles in this high-quality synthetic material. Thus, the chosen shade is permanent and only enrichened by the patina reflexes.
Protecting the climate and saving resources are a top priority for NATURinFORM. For its wood composite material production certified as climate neutral the producer only uses wooden fibres from domestic, PEFC certified forestry. The decks can be recycled 100 percent; after use they are taken back by the company, checked, and re-fed into the production process.
There are environmental product declarations according to international standards available (EPDs) for all of NATURinFORM’s decks and façade profiles. All products are continuously monitored by quality controls and stress tests, to guarantee a constant perfect and first-class wood composite quality. The company provides a five-year guarantee on its products.
Download: Press Release
Product information: compact