House on a Slope by Camponovo Baumgartner Architekten

Set in the steep landscape of Oberhusrain, Kriens, House on a Slope by Camponovo Baumgartner Architekten is a remarkable architectural response to its complex topography. The plot, long vacant despite being the first sold in the development, now hosts a two-family home that harmonizes bold design with the dramatic hillside setting.

This slope house embraces its unique site conditions, offering contrasting spatial experiences. One side opens southward to panoramic views of Mount Pilatus and Lake Lucerne, while the other tucks into a tranquil, private garden space. The house navigates height and light with elegance, turning every level into a distinct spatial narrative.

Navigating the Terrain

Access to the home is made through a story-high outdoor staircase that leads to an expansive foyer, visually connecting with the garden and offering a tactile sense of the site’s gradient. Above this shared entrance, a small exit platform brings out nostalgic and intimate gestures—residents waving goodbye or welcoming guests—strengthening the human scale within the design.

Each residence spans three levels, each floor shaped to emphasize privacy, openness, and connection with the landscape.

Interior Design & Spatial Organization

• Lower Level: Designed classically with an entrance hall, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The warm wooden paneling around the entrance functions like built-in furniture, setting a theme for integrated design elements throughout the house.
• Living Level: Here, flexibility and openness dominate. Spaces revolve around a central built-in furniture core. Wall-sized sliding panels allow custom configurations. Panoramic alcove windows offer seat nooks to enjoy the alpine scenery. The double-height dining room opens toward the slope, while the kitchen and adjoining study strategically frame views of the garden and corridor below.
• Top Level (Attic Floor): The crowning space features a south-facing terrace complete with an outdoor shower and dramatic views. The open wall to the dining room below reinforces visual and spatial connectivity, turning height into a design asset.

Materials & Façade Design

Clinker bricks, lime-cement plaster, and wood form the core palette, carefully chosen to complement the hillside setting and deliver both robustness and warmth. The façade, marked by vertical pilaster strips and alternating brick patterns, brings rhythmic texture and depth. Exposed concrete elements, strategically placed, underscore structural clarity and align with the house’s axis.

On the slope side, the structure appears more subdued yet mirrors the same material language, reinforcing a quiet elegance.

Architectural Intent

This project demonstrates how topography can inspire rather than constrain. The architects embrace the slope not as a challenge but as an opportunity to celebrate height differences, visual connections, and micro-landscapes. The design achieves a balance between communal living and privacy, bold form and tactile intimacy, and between modernity and natural harmony.

All the photographs are works of Peter Tillessen, Camponovo Baumgartner