Creating a Natural Ambience with Fabric Blinds
Project: Multi-Family Building in Zurich
Facts & Figures
Year of construction: 2023
Building owner: private
Region: Zurich
This unique project places equal emphasis on high-quality design and creating a natural living environment. Situated in the Witkon district of Zurich, this striking apartment building is built entirely from solid wood, using no glue or metal in its construction. Only the base and stairwell are made from concrete. To ensure a healthy indoor climate, clay was used for the walls. The facade, clad in wooden slats, creates an attractive filtering effect; more plays of light come through the filter walls at the corners of the loggia. This is where Schenker Storen, specialists in sunlight management, stepped in: vertical fabric blinds were chosen as the shading solution, perfectly complementing the interplay of light and enhancing the overall feel-good atmosphere.
Vertical Fabric Blinds: The Ideal Choice
When it comes to combining sleek design with practical shading solutions, vertical fabric blinds are the perfect choice. They shine in terms of aesthetics: their minimalist design and wide range of colour options allow them to blend effortlessly into modern facades. To enhance the building’s natural warmth, a brown-toned fabric was selected from the broad colour palette.
Their functionality is equally impressive: the fabric filters out 97% of sunlight, providing effective protection from both glare and heat.
Transparent Fibreglass Fabric
The remaining 3% of sunlight ensures a soft transparency, flooding the interior spaces with just the right amount of natural light while maintaining views to the outside. This effect is achieved using fibreglass fabric for the blinds, where molten glass is spun into fine threads and woven into fabric. Beyond providing shading and privacy, the fabric also contributes to the room’s atmosphere by enhancing its natural lighting. The choice of brown fabric not only complements the warm aesthetics of the wooden facade, it also enhance the quality of light within the interior spaces.
A Unique Challenge: The Wooden Building
Wood is a living material, which brings its own set of implications. One advantage is evident during the installation phase, where any irregularities in the facade or window construction can be easily adjusted for. However, wood is also known to shift and ‘settle’ over the years, potentially requiring further adjustments in the future. This made it essential to work closely with architects, facade specialists, and window contractors to plan for easy access, ensuring that any future maintenance or repairs could be performed without complications.
