Three Roses for Arosa
Tourism is one of the most important economic pillars of the municipality of Arosa. While the popularity of tourism increases the pressure on the local housing supply, especially in the area of affordable housing is increasing. The municipality is counteracting this with the construction of the new “Wätterweid” residential development in the centre of Arosa, near the congress centre and the «Untersee» lake.
The designer of the winning project plant «Three Roses» on the steep slope along Wätterweidstrasse, in a figurative sense. The project by the ARGE Gross Loewensberg team envisages three identical, rhythmically stepped houses with similar floor plans and the necessary flexibility in flat sizes.
“The stepped volumes are an adequate response to the topography and the context. The three houses appear delicate and have sufficient open space. They are clearly addressed and all the flats benefit from the southern orientation,” said the jury in praise of the design by Clea Gross Architekten, Gret Loewensberg Architekten, Lüchinger+Meyer and 3-Plan Haustechnik.
On the structural side, a combined massive and timber system building is proposed. The vertical accesses, the basement and the watertight structural elements in contact with the ground, will be built in concrete. The upper floors and the façades, are designed as timber structures. An intercepting slab above the underground car park enables a change in the load-bearing grid between the residential storeys and the car park. From the ground floor onwards, an efficient timber composite construction with economical spans is used for the slabs. Most of the slabs rest on stud walls.
(Visualisations: studio maleta, Zurich)
