ContinentaleDanese. A big house nestled in a hill

location:  Männedorf  (Zurich), Switzerlandyear:   2023program:Daycare facilitystatus:Open competitioncollaborations:Opera Studio
Federico Bertagna (structural engineer)
Gregory Bianchi (sustainability engineer)

The ambitions of a public building are concentrated in the volume of a friendly single family house, which celebrates its calm residential context. Our project for a school in Männedorf is about maximizing spatial generosity within a historical context. We designed a system of interlocking units with compact service spaces and spacious double-height classrooms. Lunette windows offer playful visual connections between the garderobes of one unit and the classroom of the one underneath. The side facades express the intricacy of the interiors  in a game of punched windows in contrast to the grid structure of the street facade, built with a green wooden frame structure that reinterprets Männedorf’s vernacular imagery. Sitting on a concrete base that houses service rooms, the building is constructed with a light wooden structure which characterizes the atmosphere of the classrooms.