A detached house built in 1969 on a south-facing slope in Riehen, near Basel, was gently renovated at the turn of the century and has now received a more ambitious intervention by Raeto Studer Architekten. The hillside location, which offers a wide variety of views, and the previously unused attic space held the potential the family of four had been waiting for.
The development of the three levels is characterised by a series of careful interventions in the floor contexts. In the basement, black oiled cupboard doors and wallpaper-clad panels transform the journey toward the garden into an experience—"going to the light, going into the garden, becomes an experience," the architects note. Self-closing wallpaper doors, barely distinguishable from the fronts, allow access to private areas only for those familiar with the house’s secrets.
The single-flight staircase from the garden and pool level ends on the entrance floor, where the ascent to what the architects call the muse floor begins. A polygonal nucleus houses the staircase, a shower, a toilet, and a highly soundproofed, self-contained studio box—a room within a room. Emerging from this black oiled cube standing at the centre of the new attic, the light-filled space begins to wash around it. The flowing volume divides into three areas through the interplay of the nucleus and existing bow supports: office, guest bedroom, and a place of acoustic enjoyment with piano, sofa, and music system—all leading to the "final bouquet" of a wide, unobstructed view of the greenery and the urban context beyond.
The construction preserves the existing roof structure, insulating with clay panels and plastering with natural clay. The exterior is covered with fibre cement slate, while the sloping surfaces accommodate an in-roof PV system. New exterior walls and flat roof are built using traditional carpentry techniques with highly ecological materials. At 498 square metres across three floors on a 920-square-metre plot, the house gains not just space but a new vertical narrative—a story that ascends, always, toward light.
