UMNUTZUNG „SCHAPPE“ REUSSBÜHL, LUZERN

The task of the bachelor's thesis in 2016 was devoted to the conversion of the industrial hall ‘Schappe' in Reussbuehl with integration of a Commercial sector and Residential sector. The design is kind of a test planning and should lead to the revitalization of the neighborhood by develop new housing which are unconventional and yet contemporary.

This conversion project has to meet the following requirement given according to the project specification: – Project location – Conversion existing industrial hall – No changes on the facade of the hall (historical building) – New form of Integrating Commercial and Residential sectors in the hall – No changes in the support structures of the hall, due to the economic reasons – A comprehensive space program that leads to an extreme density of the hall All these points made it difficult to live creatively and to make something of your own, nevertheless it was a very interesting and challenging project. My design was characterized by the fact that all these objectives were met in a very unique way. The design is simple yet complex. Since the façade and support structure could not be changed, my main focus from the beginning was how to relate the Commercial and Residential sectors to the shed roof. I saw the industrial hall as a link between various available places of the neighborhood. The basic idea is commercial on the ground floor and housing below the shed roof. Important to me was that commercial and residential has a reference to the shed roof and that you can feel the character of the hall everywhere and the support structure is not packed. The modular design of the Commercial sector and Residential sector consists of the conventional corridor with commercial modular space (shops) on the ground floor, and modular residential apartment (flats) on top below the shed roof, by designing one module for each sector and multiplying throughout the hall. The apartments are designed specially for below the shed roof as collective leaving areas for particular customers (exa. Singles, students,….) To summarize, conversion projects are very challenging due to the restrictions, at the same time very interesting to combine Commercial and Residential sectors in one hall and above all to bring back life to a old building with new ideas and technologies.