COMPETITION PARTICIPATION BY HWA ARCHITECTS


COMPETITION NURSING HOME DU LAC. The angled new building of the Du Lac 1773.5 nursing home spans a square-like anteroom with the two striking wings for the nursing wards and the central building with its main access. This functions as a joint that connects St. Moritz Bad with St. Moritz Dorf in terms of urban development. The common rooms are located directly on the facade and offer a view of the Engadine mountains.



WINNER OF THE BLUMENHOF THALWIL COMPETITION. Our winning project: The replacement new building in the historic Blumenhof in the municipality of Thalwil requires a volumetric reformulation of the building, both in height and in footprint, with orientation towards the historic existing building. The striking urban corner situation on Alte Landstrasse will be preserved and thus its portal effect. The volume of the new building is integrated sensitively and moderately into the existing building, thus forming a balanced triad with the two historic houses Villa “Sonnegg” and the community center, with which it is connected underground to the existing parking garage. The parking garage can now also be accessed more attractively via the entrance to the new Blumenhof replacement building. The facade of the replacement building is designed as a perforated facade with standing windows as a reference to the historic existing building. The existing open space is preserved and, as a “new” small community square, underlines the historical ensemble as a connecting element, is intended to invite the public and provide orientation about the community buildings and functions.


The decision of the project commission is as follows: The project commission has awarded the fee offer and the project idea from hwa Architekten AG, Zurich. The concept is mature, has implemented the requirements of the task very well and still promises potential for optimization. The winning team is congratulated and thanked for the work they have done.


COMPETITION HOTEL FURTSCHELLAS 270°. Architectural concept: The existing mountain railway will be built over by the new hotel. The hotel’s arrangement of the hotel rooms is deliberately organized as a one-horse structure in order to offer every guest a unique view of the landscape from their room. The hotel guest chooses between Silser Plain, lake view or mountain view. The arrangement of the hotel rooms around the spacious inner courtyard creates a high quality of the hotel’s meeting areas and enables the “open house” concept to be continued in an attractive and tangible way on the upper floors.
Architecture and landscape: The Hotel Furtschellas 270° fits respectfully into the landscape of the Sils plain. The building behaves evenly in all directions towards the landscape and nature. Every facade of the building faces the landscape equally, honoring the uniqueness of this place with its scenic wealth. The Hotel Furtschellas 270° integrates the valley station of the Furtschellasbahn into the hotel as a building. This results in the unique opportunity of a SKI-IN and SKI-OUT hotel in the Engadine. An absolute unique selling point for the Hotel Furtschellas 270° in the Engadine.


COMPETITION FOR RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX PFÄFFIKON. Two new buildings are to be built in a residential area on Sophie Guyer Strasse in Pfäffikon. The task is to create attractive apartments with a high quality of life with lots of plants and a quiet and private courtyard in a central location in the community. 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 room apartments are planned, each with a shady balcony. The requirements were preservation of the tree population, a PV system with green roofs, and an optimal microclimate through planned greenery.
The compact building volumes enable sustainable use of resources and natural materials. The new buildings can be realized at any time as Minergie or Minergie ECO. The use of natural and sustainable materials should be striven for. The facade materials, consisting of wood and the steel structure in front as a basic framework for the plants and terraces, offer a homely and natural atmosphere.


COMPETITION OELBERG SCHAFFHAUSEN. The Breite district in Schaffhausen with the historic villa from 1897 on the Oelberg is characterized by point and individual houses. The urban grain size and building density correspond to a villa typology in which only a few large-volume buildings occur. The gardens in the English country house style that belong to Villa Oelberg are a spatially defining green space for the adjacent development. Adjacent to planned construction projects, the historic Villa Oelberg is at the center both spatially and topographically. The design will give the Villa Oelberg park an urban development upgrade along the development in the southeast. It is framed by the new development and thus experiences a new quality. The deliberately small volume buildings, which are set on the edge of the slope, do not compete with the villa and create a transition to the towering semi-detached houses behind them.
The compact building volumes enable sustainable use of resources and materials and can be achieved at any time with Minergie or Minergie ECO certification. hwa Architects recommend a base made of recycled concrete for the construction and a wooden construction for the remaining floors. Sustainable concepts are also proposed in the building technology sectors, such as energy generation and the handling of surface water and rainwater. The extensive roof greening in accordance with the district plan is consistently implemented in order to capture maximum solar energy with efficient PV elements.