KASPAR architectes EPFZ-SIA (Villarlod)

Passive house in Fribourg

A gentle urban densification has been achieved here.

Several options were explored. The existing family home could be razed to the ground to make way for a small building with four apartments. But the owners couldn't identify with this new object, nor could they imagine their life in this habitat on a completely different scale. The decision was taken to add a new wooden volume to the existing house, in order to offer two independent dwellings, with access to a garden, just a stone's throw from the town center.

In this multi-generational duo, it's the grandparents who live in the new house, leaving the original family home to the younger generations.

The 3-room, two-storey apartment is insulated like a passive house. The small amount of energy needed to heat it could be drawn from the existing heating reserve of the original house. Photovoltaic panels on the roof make a significant contribution to the electricity consumption of both households.