Residential Building Amthausquai Olten

Numerous representative buildings began to appear after Olten became a hub of the Swiss railway network in the middle of the 19th century. Configurations included perimeter block developments or series of free-standing buildings. This mixture dominates the construction site at the junction of Amthausquai and Jurastrasse (and indirectly Bahnhofstrasse). A new residential building is to be placed next to the Aarhof, slightly set back to display its free positioning along the Aare, while harmonising with the courtyard structure of the superordinate perimeter block development.

The building volume follows the surrounding architecture in terms of length and width. Interspaces and visual relationships are created by leaving a gap of a few metres to the neighbouring buildings. The front facade presents itself to the Amthausquai. This uses design elements based on symmetries, framing and filling, in a reinterpretation of the adjacent Aarhof facade with its intarsia ornamentations and textures. The height of the new building is also in line with the eaves height of the Aarhof. The selection of mineral-based, coarse-grained scratch-finished plastering, which structures the exterior by means of horizontal and vertical fields and creates a sense of depth, follows a building tradition in Olten. This, in conjunction with an axial facade design, endows the building with a representative character.

The permeability of the ground floor enhances a spatially limited courtyard, giving it a kind of workshop feel. The spatial typology of the apartments is reminiscent of an old town mansion, yet the closed sequence of rooms with an entrance hall and orientations to various sides opens up and becomes flowing. While the bedrooms face the courtyard and a side street, the living areas stretch out towards the Aare, extending the space in the form of generous loggias. Intimate loggias can also be found in apartments in the western part of the building – they articulate the continuous living space with a view to the north and sunlight from the south. The interior materiality is based on fair-faced concrete, purposely combined with doors and wall cladding made of oak.