François Meyer Architecture: Renovation Artis, Sierre - best architects 24

François Meyer Architecture

Renovation Artis, Sierre

best architects 24

renovation and addition

Place

Sion, Switzerland

Photos

Nicolas Sedlatchek

Description

This beautiful building, dating from the 1950s, is located in the centre of Sierre, on a small triangular plot of land bounded by two streets and a green area to the north. The house has a terrace for each flat, creating a series of offsets that give it a distinctive character. With its high visibility in a prominent location and its architectural qualities, the building was deemed worthy of preserving. It looks back on an interesting history, starting out as the home of a large family housing several generations under the same roof and gradually over the years evolving into rental apartments. The project’s goal was to renovate without altering the original building. The choice was made to insulate the exterior façade. Different materials were used to maintain the look of the heritage architecture: The existing frames were covered with a layer of very smooth and fine plaster, while the rest of the building is clad in old-fashioned roughcast. Three shades of blue were chosen for the façade, offering a different reading of each volume and reacting to the light according to the path of the sun. The configuration of the apartments was changed to make the most of the available space. The woodwork was restored, keeping the original character of the flats, and all the kitchens, bathrooms and terraces were refurbished in light colours.