Kahlstrasse House: Buchner Bründler Architekten breaks the mould in Basel with stacked blocks of textured concrete
Set within a conventional row of townhouses, the dynamic volume of 110 Kahlstrasse House clearly stands out. The project, located in calm, sought-after residential quarter of Basel, was designed by local practice Buchner Bründler Architekten for a client in retirement.
Kahlstrasse House is a deliberate departure in style and geometry from the street's strict residential structure. Orientated towards its carefully landscaped garden and engaging as little as possible with the street, the house is diligently sculpted to address issues of interior mobility, light and views.
See the interactive floor plan of Kahlstrasse House
The triple-height entrance hall acts as the house's heart - from here the visitor can peek through to the other levels and access the living room and kitchen on the ground floor. An elevator shaft cuts the house vertically, enabling easy access to all three floors. The top ones contain its four bedrooms; a master suite for the owner at the top floor and a further three bedrooms downstairs for visiting family, guests and the housekeeper.
Conceived as a series of monolithic blocks sitting on top of each other, cast in concrete with different shell structures, the house is imposing, with an intriguing, textured look. In keeping with their signature style, the architects created a playful contrast between the sturdy concrete and the warmer and lighter timber finishings, both inside and out. The offset concrete layers result in terraces around the house at different levels that mediate between the interior spaces and the garden - providing the client with pockets of blissful tranquillity.
Created with openness in mind, the house offers a dramatic interior, naturally lit from unexpected corners and gently framing the leafy garden's green views. Working with a striking modern form that is complimented by calm, clean interiors, the team at Buchner Bründler Architekten fulfilled the client's requirements for a house that will support them throughout their retirement, while at the same time ageing beautifully.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Gucci turns its windows into an endless library of books, artefacts and rare treasures
Featuring a collaboration with artist Luca Pignatelli, ‘Endless Narratives’ unfolds in Gucci store windows worldwide – a reflection of creative director Sabato de Sarno’s broad cultural interests
By Jack Moss Published
-
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Formafantasma revisits the masculine codes of modernist design
Formafantasma wins a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025, for its Milan exhibition ‘La Casa Dentro’, which took to task the inherent masculinity and conservatism at the heart of modernism
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Lesley Lokko reviews 2024's wins, shifts, tensions and opportunities for 2025
Lesley Lokko, the British-Ghanaian architect, educator, curator, and founder and director of the African Futures Institute (AFI), has been an inspirational presence in architecture in 2024; which makes her perfectly placed to discuss the year, marking the 2025 Wallpaper* Design Awards
By Lesley Lokko Published
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneer
Back in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
All hail the power of concrete architecture
‘Concrete Architecture’ surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the material, from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of Athens
Three Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian Dolomites
Giovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
By Jonathan Glancey Published
-
The finest brutalist architecture in the world
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
The Wonder Cabinet fosters creativity in Bethlehem
The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, Palestine is a not-for-profit production and cultural hub for creativity in the region
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pa.te.os hotel in Portugal is a concrete love affair with Alentejo
Pa.te.os hotel by Aires Mateus is set in the Alentejo landscape in Portugal and celebrates the blend of concrete and nature
By Jessica Rose Last updated
-
Luna House is a concrete Chilean live/work haven by Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Pezo von Ellrichshausen invites us inside Luna, the studio's base, a geometric concrete masterpiece in the Chilean countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated