Lin.Robbe.Seiler
La Gradelle housing
best architects 23
multi-family homes
Place
Cologny, Switzerland
Studio
Photos
Rolf Seiler
Description
The project proposes a
contemporary interpretation of the garden city, combining a human,
landscape-oriented scale with the notion of density and rationality. Three
towers of varying heights are set in the centre of a large garden. This
strategy constitutes an organic volumetric response to the park while
incorporating it into a heterogeneous build context. As the centrepiece of the
plan, a park project by the landscape architects Studio Vulkan proposes maximum
use of the plot through a peripheral loop promenade for its residents. By
analogy, each apartment is designed as an interior landscape, with living areas
spaciously laid out around a loggia set at the corners of the floor plan.
Particular attention is paid to exterior extensions in the form of walkway
balconies, which allow residents to circulate in and occupy the outside space. Folds
at the corners of the balconies that alternate from one floor to the next
substantially enhance their use value and amount of sunshine, helping create an
organic, playful perception of the ensemble. Seeking a residential style, the
façades use a contrasting language of expressive slabs of whitewashed
prefabricated concrete combined with darker anodised aluminium walls set
further back. The crossed balustrade rails create a play of light that changes
according to the interior and exterior perspectives, highlighting the folded
geometry of the three towers.