Haltebach

Ebikon is characterised by an overlapping field of structures from multiple decades. Fragments of farm typologies and traces of its agrarian past linger, embedded in the town’s fabric. A four-lane road cuts through its center, linking Lucerne to Zurich and bringing malls, warehouses, and industry to its doorstep.

This site, a remaining undeveloped plot, serves as a transitional space between the varied residential areas to the southwest and the commercial district to the northeast. In an effort to engage with these layers – historical, spatial, and economic – the project treats them not as obstacles but as raw material. It responds to the contradictions of the setting: between expansion and memory, ecology and infrastructure, housing demand and site constraints.

The construction program’s density contrasts with the local typology of quadrangle buildings. To achieve this density, the volumes are required to intersect and collide, reflecting the heterogeneous environment surrounding them.

The path of water forms the centrepiece of the project. Rainwater is collected and channeled along the facades into the reawakened streamlet. Vertical watercourses articulate the rhythm of the buildings and divide the outdoor areas into intimate spaces.