Form follows rigour.
We are an architecture studio in Zürich. Thirty-four architects, one grid, no ornament: civic, cultural and domestic buildings that are exact in plan, honest in material and calm enough to last two centuries.
- Buildings completed since 2004
- 84
- Projects on site or in design
- 23
- Competitions won, of 112 entered
- 19
Index
Selected projects, 2018–2025. Nine buildings in order of completion. Hover or select a row to see its drawing.
| No. | Project | Location | Year | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Küsnacht, CH | 2025 | Residential | |
| 02 | Lenzburg, CH | 2024 | Cultural | |
| 03 | Winterthur, CH | 2023 | Civic | |
| 04 | Zürich, CH | 2023 | Commercial | |
| 05 | Lugano, CH | 2022 | Residential | |
| 06 | Basel, CH | 2021 | Cultural | |
| 07 | Zürich, CH | 2020 | Civic | |
| 08 | Milano, IT | 2019 | Commercial | |
| 09 | Zürich, CH | 2018 | Residential |
Kunsthalle Seetal
Case study. Open competition, first prize 2019. Completed September 2024, Lenzburg.
A low concrete hall on the edge of a lakeside town, lit entirely from the north.
Kunsthalle Seetal replaces a disused grain store with four column-free halls under a single sawtooth roof. Every tooth faces north, so the galleries receive an even, shadowless light from morning to evening without a single blind.
The plan is an enfilade: visitors pass from the foyer into Hall A and walk east through all four rooms without retracing a step. Below, a climate-stable archive holds the foundation’s 11,000 works on paper.
Fig. 2.1 Ground floor plan 1:500. Red: visitor route through the enfilade.
Fig. 2.2 Section A–A 1:500. North-light sawtooth roof over the halls, archive below.
Fig. 2.3 Axonometric 1:1000. Red: north-facing roof glazing.
- Client
- Seetal Art Foundation
- Programme
- 4 exhibition halls, archive, foyer, café, workshop
- Procedure
- Open competition, 1st prize
- Completion
- September 2024
- Floor area
- 4,860 m² GFA
- Structure
- In-situ concrete, glulam roof
- Energy
- Ground-source heat, 410 kWp solar
- Exhibition area in four column-free halls
- 1,640m²
- Recycled aggregate in the concrete, crushed from the old silo
- 41%
- Blinds or shading devices in the galleries. North light only.
- 0
2.4 Programme Competition to opening, 2019–2024
CompetitionMar–Jun 2019 · 1st of 64
Design and permitSep 2019 – Dec 2020
TenderJan–Jun 2021 · 31 trades
ConstructionAug 2021 – Jun 2024
Opening14 September 2024
Works
Twelve buildings, four typologies. Every project is shown the same way: one drawing, one paragraph, no renderings.
Showing 12 of 12 projects
Studio
How we work. Four rules, written in 2004 and pinned above every desk since.
We draw until nothing more can be taken away. Then we build it in concrete, timber and stone, and leave it alone.
Grid before gesture
Every project begins as a structural grid. Rooms, façades and furniture follow its dimensions, so the building reads as one decision rather than a hundred.
Material is structure
No cladding that pretends. Concrete stays concrete and timber stays timber: what carries the load is what you see and touch.
Light is programme
We fix orientation, section and openings before we plan a single room, then fit each use to the light it needs.
Build for 200 years
Generous floor heights, demountable fit-outs and repairable details let a building change use several times before it needs to change shape.
Services
From first sketch to handover. One team stays with a project through every phase.
SIA 112 phases1Strategy2Studies3Project4Tender5Construction6Operation
- 01
Competitions
Open and invited competitions for public clients and foundations. We enter six to eight a year and have won 19 since 2004.
DeliverablesConcept, models 1:500, cost check123456 - 02
Architecture
Full service from brief to handover: design, building permit, tender, site supervision and cost control under one fee.
DeliverablesProject, permit, tender, site123456 - 03
Urban design
Masterplans, density studies and public space for municipalities, housing cooperatives and landowners.
DeliverablesStudies, design guidelines123456 - 04
Renovation and heritage
Careful repair and extension of listed and post-war buildings, from measured survey to structural and energy retrofit.
DeliverablesSurvey, retrofit, extension123456 - 05
Interiors and furniture
Fixed furniture, lighting and signage designed on the same grid as the building and built with makers we know.
DeliverablesDetails 1:1, prototypes123456 - 06
Research
Material research in our model workshop, recycled-concrete trials with two regional suppliers, and post-occupancy monitoring of our own buildings.
DeliverablesReports, mock-ups, an annual book123456
Awards
Recognition, 2019–2025. A selection from prizes, distinctions and shortlists.
27 prizes and distinctions since 2004, including 19 first places in architectural competitions.
| Year | Award | Project | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Alpine Residential Prize | Haus Hangkante | Winner |
| 2024 | Culture Building Award, Aargau | Kunsthalle Seetal | Winner |
| 2024 | European Museum Architecture Biennial | Kunsthalle Seetal | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Civic Building Medal, Canton of Zürich | Archive Pavilion Töss | Distinction |
| 2022 | Ticino Stone and Concrete Prize | Casa Tre Muri | Winner |
| 2021 | Library Design Award, Basel | Rhine Reading Room | Mention |
| 2020 | Urban Infrastructure Award | Fire Station North | Winner |
| 2019 | Milano Façade Prize | Kontor Quattro | Shortlist |
Team
Partners and associates. Every project is led by one of them from competition to handover.
- Architects, engineers and model makers
- 34
- Nationalities in the studio
- 09
- Studios: Zürich, Basel, Milano
- 03
| Name | Role | Studio | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lena Brändli | Founding partner | Zürich | 2004 |
| Matteo Sangiorgi | Partner | Milano | 2009 |
| Ines Kowalczyk | Partner, design technology | Zürich | 2012 |
| Ruedi Ammann | Associate, construction | Zürich | 2011 |
| Aiko Tanabe | Associate, competitions | Basel | 2015 |
| Nils Vogt | Model workshop lead | Zürich | 2016 |
| Jonas Feuz | Project architect | Zürich | 2018 |
| Sara Achterberg | Landscape architect | Basel | 2020 |
Open position Project architect, 80–100 %, Zürich
Five years’ experience on public buildings and fluent German. Send ten pages of work, nothing more, to jobs@monolith-atelier.example.
Contact
New projects and competitions. We reply to every enquiry within five working days.
Tell us about the site.
Zürich, local time
--:--CET
Studio hours Mon–Fri, 08:30–18:00. The second hand pauses at twelve, like every good station clock.
Project enquiry
Received.
Thank you. A partner will reply within five working days.
Reference MA-0000