Bernoulli House Basel

The existing house was designed and built by Hans Bernoulli around 1925 and served as his private residence. The parcel, which is surrounded by developed neighbouring properties, reveals a very introverted garden. Rational spatial development and a chamber-like floor plan typology are characteristic of the time it was built. The symmetrical construction of the house is reflected especially in the window placement of the two longitudinal facades. The roof, originally housing only work chambers, is assigned more symbolic and traditional constructive significance. The home should now provide space for a family with two children.

The conversion takes up the existing theme of symmetric arrangement and at the same time evokes new interpretation. Two freely placed spatial volumes, which house the functional areas, such as bathroom, kitchen, and vertical development, replace the chamber structure of the ground floor. Beams in the positions of the former wall structures further organize the large space and make reference to the original spatial structure. The attic, mainly vacant until now, is divided into a parent’s and a children’s tract, with separate stairway access. As the primary external intervention, three shed dormers extend the space to the garden. Their slightly different forms and orientations have a direct impact on the structure of the interior space. The high windows stretch the limited space of the roof area and make reference to the towering poplars in the immediate vicinity. Intermediate levels arrange the bedrooms vertically and allow areas for retreat to form. The coexistence of different room heights opposes the open, horizontal spatial composition of the ground floor.

The house’s rich tectonic and physical appearance leads to careful treatment of the substance of the existing building. The precious metal copper complements the warm colour canon of the exterior covering and shifts the existing surfaces of clay bricks, limestone, and lime plaster into a new relationship. The intense colouring of the exterior opposes the bright simplicity of the interior spaces. The white-painted lattice windows mark the transition into a world steeped in three-dimensional plasticity. Building on the colour white, a homogeneous spatial continuity is established, lending the house an unusual generosity.