Half-timbered House near Basel
- Barbara Zettel
About 120 half-timbered houses define the town of Allschwil southwest of Basel. The restrained and timeless aesthetics comprised of dark wood frames and infill with brightly painted finish appealed to the client couple. They purchased a historically listed half-timbered building with the intention of renovating it. A survey revealed that the structure was in a very bad condition and in part no longer usable. According to the historic preservation authority, renovation was no longer feasible and the edifice was de-listed, allowing for its demolition. “For the most part, its exterior visual appearance was worthy of preservation, not so much the building fabric”, Heinrich Degelo explains. “Our initial proposal, inspired by the artist Rachel Whiteread, was to create a cast replica of the house and rebuild it using concrete dyed oxblood red.” For the authorities, this artistic approach was too progressive: “They called for a timber loadbearing structure.”
