Grand rue 64

Situation

The building has four levels on the first floor, plus habitable attic space. Its downstream facade, facing south, i.e. towards the lake, offers a perfect representation of the architecture of bourgeois buildings erected at the end of the 19ᵉ century.

This elegant, high-quality building used to house spacious, light-filled apartments. Due to the steep slope of the site, access from the north is via Avenue des Alpes, behind the building on the third floor. This provides a very direct access to the railway station.

This feature was exploited for the extension requested by the client to increase the surface area required for its own offices.

A total volume of 5,350 m³ SIA, on a 367 m² plot, is spread over six levels without basement, i.e. ground floor, attic and four intermediate floors. 506 m² are devoted to offices, 308 m² (two apartments) to housing and two stores totaling 203 m².

Project

A discreet extension. Without touching the main façade, the project takes advantage of the significant difference in level between the front and rear of the building.

He took advantage of the available space to the north, between Avenue des Alpes and the building, to build three storeys against the land, separated from the original construction by a courtyard.

The latter allows natural light to enter, and reserves a spiral staircase for access from the third floor, at the level of the Avenue des Alpes.

This vertical link gives access to the owner’s technical design office and also serves the commercial level on the ground floor. The flat roof of this annex is partially walkable, and part of its surface is laid out as a green area.

The old building is being refurbished, in particular to highlight the original oak parquet floors, while modern technical installations such as universal cabling are being installed in the offices. The existing attic space was completely refurbished.