Rue du Vidollet 9-9bis

Situation

The building was constructed by architects Jean-Jaques, Pierre and Robert Honegger, specialists in revolutionary prefabrication, between the 1930s and 1970s.

Program

The building is an adjoining architectural ensemble belonging to three different owners. Only part of the building has been altered.

This concerns the building envelope, an interior renovation and an elevation to accommodate four new penthouse apartments, bringing the total number of apartments to forty-nine and the total square meters to twelve thousand four hundred square meters.

A one-hundred-and-twenty-square-meter shop completes the complex, which extends from the ground to the eighth floor. In the course of 2016, total contractor Alpenda completed a feat of renovation and elevation in a short space of time, during which the tenants remained in place.

Realization

The exterior renovation includes facade treatment and partial insulation, as well as brand-new windows, roller shutters and awning fabrics. The courtyards adjoining the bathrooms have been adapted to meet anti-seismic standards.

Renovation also extends to the interior, including all bathrooms, freshly fitted kitchens, wall coverings, tiles and earthenware, as well as appropriate and compliant electrical connections.

A heat pump is used to preheat domestic hot water. The exterior of the building is newly equipped with a bicycle shelter, a garbage room and a driveway for use in emergencies, for example.

Features and challenges

To minimize the inconvenience caused by the work, the residents of the apartments were able to complete the work in just five weeks, with Alpenda making a point of intervening very quickly.

The entire project took nine months to complete. Another major challenge for Entreprise Totale was the elevation.

The choice was made for a wooden construction, with plastered wood wool insulation around the perimeter. Windows are PVC on the street and gable façades, while the balcony façades are PVC/aluminum.

The new exterior envelope benefits from sandwich-type techniques and layouts, produced in the workshop ready for the plastered finish, including electrical casings. The modern, highly comfortable penthouse apartments, measuring two times seventy-five, eighty-seven and one hundred and sixteen square metres, are particularly attractive, with open or covered terraces all around the building.