In a clearing outside the building zone stands a precisely placed object. On closed days it appears as a silvery-grey, well-proportioned box at the forest’s edge—carefully set on a minimal supporting structure above a small terrace, as if it could be removed at any moment.

Approaching along the gravel path, its materiality remains ambiguous. Concrete? Metal? Timber? Only at closer range does the composition become clear: a concrete floor slab rests on a cross-shaped wall structure; the façade is clad in silver-stained timber boards; the roof edge is finished in stainless steel. Through precise geometry and careful surface treatment, base and crown merge into a homogeneous whole.

Behind the folded shutters, set within the plane of the façade, an unexpectedly rich spatial sequence unfolds. A stair, lit from above by skylights, leads to the upper floor. The dining hall rises to the roof and connects to the common room above. Within 210 m², thirty sleeping places are accommodated—every cubic centimeter carefully used.

The true generosity emerges in dialogue with the landscape. The volume is rotated by 45 degrees, opening views across the upper Lake Zurich toward the Glarus Alps. No façade faces the panorama directly; instead, all inhabitable spaces benefit—each in its own way—from the lake and alpine views.

Raised above the footprint of its predecessor, the building incorporates the stepped arena and fire pit as a covered outdoor space. The cross-shaped concrete structure orders the plan according to the proportions of the Golden Section—squares and rectangles defining both structure and façade.

Strict geometry and functional precision are paired with subtle irritation: an additional column, required to support the cantilever, was shaped by the artist Max Grüter into a concrete menhir. Here, construction meets art—Palladio and Obelix.