Résidence Valency

Situation

This was the case at Avenue d’Echallens, Lausanne, where a seven-storey, twelve-apartment building was erected on a 600 square metre plot. The new building is just a stone’s throw from the main roads and public transport links.

Realization

Lausanne in majesty. The twelve condominiums are two-and-a-half- and three-and-a-half-bedroom apartments. The duplex attic apartments feature large terraces. The others have balconies of around 12 square meters, all south-facing, offering a beautiful view of the city and Lake Geneva.

The balconies feature a curved geometry with several bending radii. These rounded shapes are the hallmark of the building. The construction is traditional, based on a 25-centimetre reinforced invert under the load-bearing areas. The structure is reinforced concrete all around, except on the south facade, where concrete-filled metal columns provide load-bearing capacity.

A full-height glazed façade provides plenty of light for the stairwell, which also features an elevator.

A gas-fired boiler and solar panels provide heating and domestic hot water. A system of turbinettes extracts stale air from the dwellings.

Outside, thirteen parking spaces and a play area have been installed. Ground-floor apartments have their own private garden, and hedges and shrubs mark the property boundary.

Exigent and difficult. Located in the middle of the city, on busy roads, with difficult access conditions, the site was no picnic.

A Berlin wall had to be installed upstream of the plot to stabilize a subsoil composed of silt and sand on the Lausanne molasse.

Moreover, lack of space prevented the installation of a concrete mixing plant. Interaction with the neighborhood and the authorities required constant care.