LIN.ROBBE.SEILER: Housing Lancy - best architects 20 gold

LIN.ROBBE.SEILER

Housing Lancy

best architects 20 gold

multi-family homes

Place

Lancy, Switzerland

Photos

Joël Tettamanti / Rolf Seiler

Description

This project filled an empty plot in the historic town of Lancy with a distinctive contextual attitude. On the side facing the road, the built façade features a subtle fold providing harmony and connecting the two alignments of the neighbouring buildings. The break in the cornice and the staggered windows and roofs strengthen the fragmented perception of the façade, in keeping with the building diversity of this urban environment. A small shopping arcade enhances the liveliness of this former artery. On the courtyard side, the project drew inspiration from the more chaotic, domestic development of the existing fabric, developing a folded geometry of non-uniform terraces that make the most of regulatory possibilities. In terms of both plan and cross-section, the apartment types were developed based on the deformed geometry of past plots. The ground floor apartment is structured around a spacious central living area connected to a private garden, while the apartments on the upper levels are folded inwards and are connected to different terraces. Lastly, a spacious attic is located under the four folded sections of the roof, organised around a large chimney stack, the whole of which is sculpted in visible concrete to achieve a brutalist expression.