The panorama that opens from the windows of the houses of this project combines all the elements of the wonderful Swiss area – a breathtaking view of the Swiss village of Veysonnaz and the city of Sion, the valley of the Rhône River and the Bernese Alps. The key challenge of this plot is its location on a steep western slope; so we had to find a solution, which would offer the residents of the buildings wonderful evening views, and, at the same time, ensure that the premises would not be overheated by the opulent afternoon sun.

When working with the buildings, we have opted for two contrasting techniques: stereotomic and tectonic. The heavy stone lower part of the buildings grows into the slope like retaining walls and terraces traditional for the alpine terrain and, hence, refers to infrastructural architecture. The upper part of the buildings looks like wooden filigree pavilions, whose construction is prompted by bookshelves. Individual ribs of these “shelves” provide both the flooring and the walls, creating localized rigidity and lightness and transparency, where needed. Rubble stone, used as the main construction material for the basement floor, blends it into the natural terrain, and visually reduces the overall scale of three-level buildings.

The lattice structure of the wooden façade performs several functions at once. It covers the common space of the residents, i.e. the living-rooms and the kitchen-dining rooms, and, at the same time, it is load-bearing. The structure provides the required sun protection and, importantly, does not block the view of the valley and the mountains. Besides, its elegance provides all the decoration the façade needs.

Functionally, the project consists of two independent houses for two families, which, to ensure architectural coherence, follow the same structural scheme and use the same materials, but have a different total area, number of rooms and zoning patterns.

They look related, yet, each of them has its own distinct features. From the outside, the houses are not identical and they have different proportions and different programmes.

The new buildings have three elevation marks, so another important task for us was to integrate them into the current development and terrain, and, at the same time, to provide as much internal space as possible.

The slope on which the plot is located is very steep, so the house can be entered from the road that runs above the plot.