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House on the Hillside of Arlesheim by Marchal + Fürstenberger Architects
Swiss studio Marchal + Fürstenberger Architects have completed a house in Arlesheim, Switzerland, where the rendered upper floor overhangs a glass-walled living room.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-5.jpg)
Called House on the Hillside of Arlesheim, the three-storey building features a basement cut into the hillside beneath a large terrace, which is connected to the living area by frameless sliding glass doors.
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The larger upper storey cantilevers over the terrace, shading the glass.
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Photographs are by Theo Scherrer.
Here is some more information from the architects:
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House on the Hillside of Arlesheim
Situated on a hillside this one-family house is conceived in three, very differently designed storeys.
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The basement is articulated through the topography with a wall that is cut through the slope extending along a forecourt into the interior, turning into a staircase and continuing up to the ground level to end at the exterior as a diagonal retaining wall supporting climber vegetation.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-17.jpg)
At the ground level a generous living room with floor to ceiling, nearly frameless sliding windows is connected to a vast terrace providing views into and beyond the valley and hilly landscape.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-8.jpg)
A continuous stretch of travertine floor as well as the minimized architectural and structural elements strengthens the sense of a spatial continuum between inside and outside.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-12.jpg)
The private part of the house on the first floor is reached by ascending at the individual rooms are legible through the façade’s openings of various sizes at different heights.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-13.jpg)
Using ground heat and controlled ventilation, the building conforms to current standards for sustainable energy use.
![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/02/dzn_Arlesheim-by-Marchal-Furstenberger-Architects-15.jpg)
Architecture and construction supervision: Marchal + Fürstenberger Architects
Construction engineer: Rubin Engineering
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