(Picture source: architecture office L3P)
Before: unsatisfactory both visually and in terms of energy efficiency, with a rather
monotonous and inhomogeneous building shell in “container look“.
(Picture source: AGROB BUCHTAL Gmbh / Adriano Faragulo) Afterwards:
functional and stylish with a facade with clearly defined lines and proportions,
which conveys an almost futuristic impression.
“Stiftung Vivendra“ at Dielsdorf / Switzerland proves it: one can…
Preserve the past and build the future
Archetech - Page 40
Learning, living, working - these are the
three words which accurately describe
“Stiftung Vivendra”. The establishment
was founded in 1965 by a parents’
association to support cerebrally
paralyzed persons. In 1970, the Dielsdorf
location with a remedial pedagogic
school, a boarding school, therapies and
a home for adults was opened. Since that
time “Stiftung Vivendra“ takes care for
cerebrally (“concerning the cerebrum“)
handicapped persons of every age - from
the baby in the integrative day-care
facility for children to the group home
for old people. Today, the organization is
operating at four localities in the Zurich
region. The facades of the nucleus of
the foundation at Dielsdorf have been
extensively renovated recently. The result
is impressive because of durable and
future-oriented solutions, but preserving
the architectural roots at the same time.
The history
As mentioned, the four volumetrically
subtly erected building components
A to D were built in the transitional
period from the 1960s to the 1970s.
In the 1980s, a first rather provisional
facade renovation was carried out: as a
contribution to minimizing deficits in
terms of energy efficiency, an 5 cm thick
(or to be more precise, thin) rock wool
insulation was installed and cladded with
fibre-cement boards. Retrospectively,
this solution must be considered as
suboptimal both technically and visually
(see motif top left). To change this
unsatisfactory condition, the planning for
a general facade renovation was started
in 2013 by the renowned architecture
office L3P Architekten (Regensberg near
Zurich) managed by Dipl.-Ing. Arch. FH
Mareike Beumer.
Following this professional planning, the
facades of three of the four buildings in
total were completely renovated in the
time from autumn of 2015 to summer of
2016. (House D will follow at a later date
not yet defined).
The constructive design
One peculiarity was that the loadbearing capacity of the wall - a type of
steel frame construction with infill - was
statically insufficient. That is why the
anchoring and the load transfer of the
new building shell had to be effected via
the ceilings. This task was performed by
means of consoles with angle brackets,
which were adjustable in order to level
deviating facade depths at the same
time. These consoles formed the basis for
an intelligent facade construction with
an optimal insulation in terms of energy
efficiency towards the wall and a multilayered design towards the outside: on a
lathing providing a rear-ventilation space
of 4 cm, the “KNAUF AQUAPANEL Cement
Board Outdoor“ was screwed, and
ceramic tiles were laid on these boards.
This tiles supplied by the well-known
architectural ceramics brand AGROB
BUCHTAL were specially produced for
this project in the Buchtal factory at
D-92521 Schwarzenfeld
The architectural effect
The building ensemble at Dielsdorf is
embedded in a park-like environment in
which many guests and occupants enjoy
relaxing or inspiring walks. Therefore, it
was important to avoid a monotonous
impression and to find a look instead
which - corresponding to the occupants’
handicap - conveys discreet charms
without being shrill. In simple words,
the intention was to create a “park for
(Picture source: AGROB BUCHTAL Gmbh / A. Faragulo)
Thanks to exact mitre cuts, the tile pattern is continued even
“around the corner“ and creates dynamic perspectives. Great
care in details also becomes apparent in the area of the
window frames and the roof parapet.