A practice of
two studios.

Atelier Noir designs houses, retreats and restorations in stone, timber and concrete. We work slowly, on few projects, and we design every one of them around the light.

Studios, in Zürich and Kyoto
2
Architects
9
Projects at most, at any time
6
Languages we work in
4
A raw concrete room opening onto the desert.
  1. 01

    Begin with the site

    We spend a full day on every site before drawing anything, from first light to dark. Most decisions come from that day.

  2. 02

    Measure the light

    Every room gets a light study: where the sun is at each hour, in summer and in winter. Windows are placed where the light is worth having, and nowhere else.

  3. 03

    Few materials, used well

    Stone, timber, concrete and lime. Materials that can be left as they are, and that look better after twenty years than after one.

Method

Four steps, every time.

  1. 1

    Visit

    A day on the site, and a conversation about how you want to live or work there.

  2. 2

    Study

    A light study and a set of first sketches, in plan and in section.

  3. 3

    Draw

    Drawings by hand first, then models in card and plaster at 1:50 and 1:20.

  4. 4

    Build

    A partner stays on the project, on site, until the last detail is fixed.

Everyone who draws a building also visits it while it is being built.

Each project is led by one of the two partners, from the first visit to the last day on site. Nothing is handed over from one team to another: the people who walked the site in the morning are the ones who choose where the windows go.

That is also why we take on so few projects at once.

Studio

Zürich

A former workshop in Seefeld, a few streets from the lake. Projects in the Alps and in Europe.

Seefeldstrasse · 8008 Zürich · 47.37° N, 8.55° E

Studio

Kyoto

A wooden townhouse in Higashiyama. Projects in Japan, and the workshop where we test materials.

Higashiyama-ku · Kyoto 605 · 35.00° N, 135.78° E

Commissions

Tell us about
your site.

Where it is, how the light falls on it in the morning and in the evening, and what you would like to build there.

Start a conversation

Or write to studio@ateliernoir.example. We reply within five working days.