House and Studio Building in Sent

Externally, the conversion of this traditional Swiss farmhouse is scarcely visible. Internally, however, the working areas were completely redesigned in the form of a “house within a house”. A new, independent, three-storey structure was inserted in the existing building. Constructed largely in timber and supported by steel columns and concrete slabs, this tract contains two studios and the sanitary facilities. Only at one point does it penetrate the facade: where a new window with a loggia was created overlooking a narrow lane at the rear of the house. In view of the structural changes taking place in many rural areas, the conversion of former agricultural buildings that are worthy of preservation poses a new challenge. The present introverted solution retains the outward appearance of the old house, while creating the contemplative working conditions required by the artist in residence. The windows in the new tract do not command extensive views, for example, but frame sections of the old external walls; and one window is overlaid externally by the timbers of the historical facade. The stage-like quality this evokes is enhanced at night by the indirect lighting of the outer wall. Access to the sculptor’s studio is via a movable, furniture-like staircase element. To facilitate the transport ofmaterials within the house, openings were formed in the floors, creating a spatial link between the basement and the upper storey.