Clauss Kahl Merz Atelier
Clauss Kahl Merz Atelier is based in Basel and was founded in 2011 by Marion Clauss and Marco Merz. Christian Kahl joined as a partner in 2023. The studio comprises 12 architects working on a wide range of projects throughout Switzerland. Among its larger completed projects are the studio house in Kehrsiten, the renovation and extension of the primary school in St. Gallen, and the Gassliboda timber house in Innercamana.
In 2023, the studio completed the cooperative housing Lyse-Lotte in Basel, awarded the Swiss Arc Award in the ‘Best Residential Building’ category in 2024. As a cooperative project with an iconic postmodern approach, it represents a contemporary interpretation of communal living. The studio is currently working on projects including the refurbishment of Robersten Primary School in Rheinfelden, the Birshölzli cooperative housing in Birsfelden, and a residential development on Riehenring in Basel. The latter, developed in collaboration with Truwant + Rodet, highlights the studio’s ability to work in interdisciplinary teams, combining different scales and programmes to redefine housing and urban development.
The partners’ academic teaching is closely intertwined with their professional practice. Marco Merz has been a lecturer in structural engineering since 2016, while Marion Clauss, following her time as an assistant lecturer at ETH Zurich, is currently a visiting professor of urbanism and housing at KIT in Karlsruhe.
