Think Architecture's House on a Slope, a hillside home above Lake Zurich

Swiss studio Think Architecture had a tricky brief here: fit a very large programme onto a narrow, steeply sloping plot above Lake Zurich, and do it gently. Their answer was to break the 1,000-square-metre house into a cluster of smaller volumes in dark limestone and cedar that step down the hill. Creative director Marco Zbinden says the aim was for it to read less like one monumental object and more like a group of familiar buildings that have always sat on the hillside, in step with the scale of the neighbouring houses.

There are really two houses: a family house above, entered from the street, with kitchen, living and dining rooms behind large cedar-framed windows and bedrooms on top; and a more enclosed, limestone-clad block below for children and guests. They meet through a subterranean corridor lined with art and a garden level with a pool, which Zbinden calls the social heart of the home. A planted terrace sits on the lower roof, and gaps in both blocks make room for native trees.

Inside, the palette is short and tactile: bog oak, cedar, oak, Belgian bluestone, terrazzo and patinated brass, chosen to age well. It is a private home, so this one is for looking at rather than visiting, and a good study in making a big house feel modest.

Our summary of a story from Dezeen, published 26 October 2026. Read the original

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