Haus Sonnengarten (Sun Garden House)
It is only on closer inspection that the architectural qualities of the embroiderery building „Haus Sonnengarten“ (Sun Garden House) become apparent. The narrow alleyway makes the imposing façade on the eastern side of the building difficult to see.
History:
The building reflects the tensions between historicism, art nouveau and early impulses of modernism which were typical of the architecture of the great commercial buildings of St.Gallen in the day. The Haus zum Sonnengarten fully expresses these stylistic forces. The architects were Heinrich and Daniel Oertly and Otto Konrad, commissioned by the company R. Zürcher-Bercht in 1907. As a piece of architectural history, the Sonnengarten is closely connected to other prominent buildings in the textile quarter, synthesising the neo-baroque playfulness of the Oceanic (1906) and the sober pillar construction of the Pacific (1907).
Architecture:
The building has a pillar structure with six axes and comprises four main stories over a one-and-a-half story ground floor, topped by a hipped roof with rooms beneath it. The design of the eastern façade is particularly interesting. Up to the third floor, the window axes are pronounced and form bay windows. Beside these, in the fourth axis over an arched doorway, oriel windows spatially animate the façade. This is a nod to local architectural history. The large semi-circular windows in the third floor bring together the windows below to form arcades. Above, arched, mullioned windows top them – relegated in the north part of the building and hidden from the street view by a stone balustrade. The varying division of the large windows with muntins and the art nouveau lines on the glass contribute to the carefully composed façade.
Present-day use:
Since 1991, the interior design company RUF is based in the Sonnengarten, and a communications company and an e-business have taken over the offices in the upper floors.
The building reflects the tensions between historicism, art nouveau and early impulses of modernism which were typical of the architecture of the great commercial buildings of St.Gallen in the day. The Haus zum Sonnengarten fully expresses these stylistic forces. The architects were Heinrich and Daniel Oertly and Otto Konrad, commissioned by the company R. Zürcher-Bercht in 1907. As a piece of architectural history, the Sonnengarten is closely connected to other prominent buildings in the textile quarter, synthesising the neo-baroque playfulness of the Oceanic (1906) and the sober pillar construction of the Pacific (1907).
Architecture:
The building has a pillar structure with six axes and comprises four main stories over a one-and-a-half story ground floor, topped by a hipped roof with rooms beneath it. The design of the eastern façade is particularly interesting. Up to the third floor, the window axes are pronounced and form bay windows. Beside these, in the fourth axis over an arched doorway, oriel windows spatially animate the façade. This is a nod to local architectural history. The large semi-circular windows in the third floor bring together the windows below to form arcades. Above, arched, mullioned windows top them – relegated in the north part of the building and hidden from the street view by a stone balustrade. The varying division of the large windows with muntins and the art nouveau lines on the glass contribute to the carefully composed façade.
Present-day use:
Since 1991, the interior design company RUF is based in the Sonnengarten, and a communications company and an e-business have taken over the offices in the upper floors.