Philippe Meyer

Description

A house. Nestling on a steep hillside sloping down to the Rhône. An apartment house that does not replace the domestic and individual scale of the built fabric by reproducing a rental archetype – with its entrance hall, letterboxes and interphone. Here, these functions are distributed: The entryway is the exterior space between each wing, serving as a central patio, providing air and light. The shared garage forms the forecourt, lined with ceramic pots filled with plants. The seven apartments occupying the building are divided into three units, each laid out differently. Flanking the central walkway are two single-storey apartments that demarcate the entrance courtyard. These twin apartments form a dual relationship with the surrounding space, the first stretching up vertically with a roof terrace and the second horizontally with an outdoor extension. This extension then enables rooftop access to the third volume, standing at the edge of the slope and housing three duplex apartments. With a view to ensuring compactness and protection, the house is only broadly open towards the landscape. The smaller openings on the side and rear façades have wooden frames while the large bay windows overlooking the countryside are framed in aluminium with sliding elements and loggias.