DREIER FRENZEL

Description

The project is part of an urban eco-quartier comprising 318 housing units and numerous public facilities in the La Jonction area of Geneva (former site of the Artamis cultural centre). The building has 96 units spread over four floors and two attics, shared roof gardens, areas for various commercial and cultural activities on the ground floor, and an underground car park for 319 cars and 53 two-wheel vehicles. The project brings together two forms of housing, loft and social housing, to shaping a hybrid complex called «social loft». This is a response to the diversity of lifestyles in our society and it builds social values as one of the main assets of sustainability. The creation of a mixed and diverse living environment revolves around three patio gardens in an introverted and contemplative spirit. The four staircases, arranged in the narrowing zone between patios, benefit from two sources of natural light. This distribution principle systematically connects four flats per floor, which feature exterior spaces ranging between patio and loggia. Living spaces have a meandering layout. The rooms are grouped around a large distribution hub equipped with wardrobes and cupboards, for functional storage. The same principle of desire of ownership is applied in the building’s scale, manifested by a succession of transition thresholds between the public space and more private realms: public walkways, entrance halls grouped together for two staircases, semi-shared patios, and extended landings.