Little Dream

Moni and Pirmin Zurbriggen had a 250 year old „stall“ (barn) in a residential area of Zermatt. Heinz Julen was commissioned by them in 2011 to convert this into a small residential unit. The biggest challenge was the lack of space. The barn has a ground surface of 4.5 meters square and has two floors. Heinz Julen decided, contrary to the generall rules, to keep the inside of the old barn visible and install the thermal insulation outside . Without changing the character of the „stall“ too much, the facade was then dressed again in old original wood from the Zermatt area . The advantage of this idea was that more space was won because all the window openings were placed on the outer layer. As a result space saving of 50 cm could be generated all around. And so there was enough space for the closets, shower, fireplace etc.