Parallèle II

Situation

However, in Mont-sur-Lausanne, next to the bypass freeway, a group of four buildings called “Parallèle” offers a solution to this problem.

The main idea of this program is to combine housing and workshops in two separate buildings, but offer them to tenants together, and to use the workshop building as a protective curtain for the housing building.

Program

The “Live & Work” concept. The “Live & Work” concept consists in offering for rent, either on a voluntary or compulsory basis, a home to live in and a separate space to develop professional activities of a craft, semi-industrial or private nature.

In the case of the recently completed “Parallèle II” group, housing and workshops are offered on an optional basis. In the “Parallèle I” complex, currently under construction, the two will be linked.

This solution has the great advantage of limiting daily business trips to just a few dozen meters, and effectively helps to reduce the flow of cars, which is quite a feather in the cap of a complex backed by six motorway lanes.

Realization

A filter and an inner courtyard. The major challenge facing the designers of “Parallèle” was to isolate the building from the noise of the bypass freeway. The solution was to border the expressway with a narrow, long, angled block housing the workshops.

The 4,000 square meters of workshop space are quiet thanks to the metal facades at the rear of the building, which provide soundproofing, the grouping of corridors to the north, and work areas that only face south.

The business building retains its industrial character, with high ceilings and unfinished surfaces that can be adapted to specific needs.

Opposite, the building reserved for housing is integrated into the existing neighborhood, with an opposite angle that creates a protected courtyard to the north.

The ninety-seven units, ranging from two-and-a-half to four-and-a-half rooms, feature a typology that favors south-facing living spaces, where large balconies open onto the lake and mountains.

A stone’s throw from the Sauvabelin forest, Parallèle II offers its residents quality housing in a convivial setting. The courtyard that unites the two buildings has been designed as a place to meet and exchange ideas.

With a facade brought to life by roller blinds turned into facade cladding, the area is planted with trees of major species, equipped with a fountain and water points. The courtyard acts as a link between work and family life.