The Weggishof, a mixed-use development in Weggis on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, is a wood hybrid construction and consists of 39 apartments made of prefabricated wooden elements. These are intersected with a bracing concrete fundament, which houses 1’200 m2 of commercial space with public uses.
Interestingly, the 39 flats offer a small and large version of each of the different floor plans, providing comparable quality at different scales and budgets. The building nestles into an existing natural U-shaped slope, which allows for structural diversity. Floor heights are staggered to let the new construction blend in with the surroundings without blocking the view of the lake from existing structures.
The modular metal facade gives a vivid identity to the public space while adding a layer of privacy. Thus it acts like an open threshold between the two worlds of prefabricated precision and the surrounding landscape with a striking alpine panorama.
The apartments, ranging from simple studios to five-room apartments, are double faced and open to the green, seasonal and biodiversity-oriented courtyard with a garden and a playground, which is a public meeting place for the community.
Weggishof is a pioneering project in the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). A digital workflow was crafted to allow for dimensional steering of the prefabrication of the standardised wood elements, whose surfaces are left raw for visual impact. The BIM also supported the project’s high sustainability intentions as it facilitates a more precise layering and system separation of structures and materials. Thus future material recycling will be easier and more efficient.
In the end Weggishof is much more than a sustainable housing project – it also enriches the centre of town with a new urban expression and a public space.
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