Logements au Pommier

Type

Habitation

Date de réalisation

2005

Ingénieur civil

Perreten & Milleret S.A.

Maître de l'ouvrage

CIA caisse de prévoyance

Autre(s) intervenant(s)

Surface brute

20'700 m2

Coût

29'500'000

Procédure

concours

Architecte

Acau,Aeby Perneger

Interview de l'architecte

Descriptif

The construction of four low-cost apartment blocks results from a town planning scheme, whereas their form, typological layout and materiality express the architects’ considered decision. Downhill from villa Gardiol, the current headquarters of the Interparliamentary Union, their positioning perpendicular to the slope leaves the view open to chemin du Pommier. The buildings are two almost identical twins, which implies that you access each time the centre of an external square which takes you to both the back and front of the building. The four apartment blocks are composed of a base, which contains the car park and the residential first story. The remaining apartments are in the upper part. The buildings are linked to rue Gardiol, located further down, by a clever system whereby the projecting overhang volumes are used as circulation areas. All the apartments are double aspect, with a smooth-faced northeast elevation, the bedroom side, and a face with loggias on the southwest side where the day areas are located. Rough cast materials are used for the buildings that are to be low-cost dwellings: a simple envelope of pre-fabricated panels in orangey red tinted concrete between a “line” of grey concrete, stair wells in raw concrete, loggias leaving visible the assembly of the façade components, metal/wood window frames and minimalist treatment of interior coverings.