Wohn – und Geschäftshaus Webersbleiche in St. Gallen, Switzerland

July 02, 2010 Category: Housing, Residential

Designed by Marcel Ferrier Architekt BSA SIA, Wohn – und Geschäftshaus Webersbleiche is located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The unique aspect of the urban square is its further development of the ‘block-court’ type resulting from the medieval conurbation, as is typically expressed by the Webersbleiche. The sequence of spaces created by the main road, main building, side street, side building, court, and garden are also the leitmotif of the design.

Based on use as residential and retail buildings, the project aimed to provide a new, spatially diverse answer to the archetypal theme of the city. Different courts define the order of urban spaces from public to private open places. They are accentuated by higher, peripherally positioned residential courts of the upper residential and atrium floor. The position of the prismatic structure stresses the irregular configuration of the first urban extension outside the walls of the old town, as can be seen in the conical direction of it lanes.

The two-storey, filter-like market hall, with its translucent superstructure, feels massive and finds architectural expression in its harmony with the position in the rear court. Textile patterns in the outer areas and in the atrium, as well as the organisation of the roof landscape are reminiscent of the former canvas bleaching works and create a strong symbol for textile city today.

Wohn - und Geschäftshaus Webersbleiche by Marcel Ferrier Architekt BSA SIA