The concrete facade of this housing block in Lausanne, Switzerland, functions 4 distinct surface finishes to create a patchwork result that hints at the building’s challenging internal layout .
Developed by Swiss company 2b Architectes – who also lately finished a faceted concrete bridge – the five-storey creating accommodates 4 multi-level apartments on a corner website close to Campagne de Beaumont, an estate featuring a number of 19th-century buildings.
This led 2b Architectes to produce a creating meant to combine modern particulars and finishes with standard proportions.
The facade was divided up to reveal which parts belonged to which residence. Some components were cast against timber boards to generate a grained texture, even though some sections feature a smooth surface.
Connected story: Faceted concrete bridge by 2b Architectes backlinks a metro station with a forest
A mineral wash was also applied in some elements to develop a gritty texture designed to resonate with the ground surface.
These surfaces are punctured by square windows in two different sizes. Some sit flush with the concrete, while other folks are slightly recessed.
“The compact building with its punctured window holes reinterprets characteristic characteristics of the 19th-century buildings,” said 2b Architectes, which is led by Stephanie Bender and Philippe Béboux.
“Because the concrete surfaces of each and every individual apartment are handled in a different way, the typologically interwoven character of the interior can also be perceived on the exterior.”
Named Urban Villa Beaumont four in 1, the 6-sided building was finished in 2011. At its centre is a small square courtyard that accommodates the entrances to all 4 houses within.
Unlike the facade, the walls fronting the courtyard are glazed to carry light by means of all parts of the developing.
Four massive letters hang down from overhead, spelling out the word Area.
Photograph by Thomas Jantscher
“The communally used covered interior atrium at the core of the strong construction guides daylight within the constructing,” explained the architects.
“This acts as a point of reference for the floor strategies of the four interlocking residential units.”
Photograph by Thomas Jantscher
All 4 of the houses contained in the developing are drastically different. Rather than every single possessing a floor, or a specific side of the building, they spiral up around each other by way of a double-helix staircase that surrounds the central courtyard.
Photograph by Thomas Jantscher
Two of the houses each and every have 3 bedrooms plus their personal ground-degree parking room, and there is also a 1-bedroom home with huge flexible residing spaces and 3 parking spaces.
The fourth home is a large household unit with 4 bedrooms, which takes up the whole upper floor as nicely as spaces on the reduced ranges.
“The principle of the floor-prepare idea combines the benefits of personal residing with communal togetherness – an revolutionary and properly-conceived response to urban densification that revitalises the notion of residing together,” added the architects.
All four homes also attributes a private terrace on the ground floor, screened from prying eyes by concrete walls.
Photography is by Roger Frei, apart from exactly where otherwise indicated.
Undertaking credits:
Architect: 2b Architectes
Group 2b: Ph.Béboux, S Bender, T Borges, G Warnking, C Jung, GA Lili, M Baumgartner, F Ben-Amor, J Blanc, A Clement, P Gabrielli, S Grimm, E Quaresina
Artist: Christian Robert-Tissot
Development management: Beric
Structural engineer: INGPHI
Building physicist: Sorane
Acoustic engineer: Bernard Braune
Creating envelope engineer: BCS
Landscape architect: CA Presset
Notion diagram 
Internet site program 
Ground floor strategy 
Initial floor program 
Second floor prepare 
Third floor strategy 
Fourth floor strategy 
Segment 1 
Segment two Dezeen
