Roger Boltshauser
Boltshauser Architects is an architecture firm founded by Roger Boltshauser in Zurich, committed since the late 1990s to establishing earth as a local and climate-neutral building resource. The studio has realized numerous projects pioneering its innovative applications.
Today, the firm explores hybrid uses, combining earth with other building materials. In Roger Boltshauser’s laboratory at ETH Zurich, empirical experience from practice is supported by scientific research, and findings flow back into prototype development in practice. This feedback loop—between teaching, hands-on experimentation, scientific analysis, and the sharing of newly gained knowledge—is central to the studio’s approach to contemporary construction with ecological advantages. Testing materials in the laboratory, mock-ups, workshops, casting, or on-site is integral to the practice’s method. The interplay between construction, climate knowledge, architectural language, and design inquiry shapes the office’s work, giving it a contemporary yet archaic and sensory expression.
At its core is the question of how architecture emerges from these processes—architecture that endures. For Boltshauser Architects, durability is a key factor of sustainability, with beauty, atmosphere, sensory experience, and the deep appreciation of users serving as its guarantors.
The firm’s notable built projects include the Rauch House in Schlins, the Ofenturm at the Brickworks Museum in Cham, the Zwhatt H1 timber hybrid high-rise in Regensdorf, the GLC research building for ETH Zurich, the Oerlikon swimming and sports centre, and the firm’s headquarters on Dubsstrasse in Zurich.
