This new building, which stands in the centre of the Swiss village of Urmein surrounded by the peaks of the Hinterrhein Valley, blends almost seamlessly with the old village made up of mountain farmhouses. The client's search for a site to build a house for her retirement and for her son's family ended successfully here on the slopes of the Heinzenberg. As the existing building, a dwelling house with a stable, was partly dilapidated it was demolished. The architects Valentin Bearth, Andrea Deplazes, Daniel Ladner and Jonas Crameri wanted the new building to have the same spatial presence as its predecessor and decided on a sizable building volume that they placed as close as possible to the site boundary so that it takes up almost the entire trapezoidal plot. But towards the south, on the entrance front on the village street, they set the building back somewhat, making room for a fountain and a bench seat there where neighbours, ramblers and mountain bikers can rest.
© Ralph Feiner