Geneva, Switzerland
16 dwellings / retail
Competition
2019

The project consists of three juxtaposed volumes connected by two external service cores. The concept at the base of the project is simple and diagrammatic, opting for a clear division between ‘Served and Servant’ spaces. Servant zones such as stairs and lifts stand freely in concentrated towers outside the building allowing for high floor flexibility. Each volume contains three different programs. Small retail and office spaces are located on the ground floor together with the lobby. On the upper floors, the building counts sixteen apartments which benefit of a south-facing winter garden, and of a loggia on the northern side, ensuring optimal cross ventilation and better energetic consumption. On the top floor, we designed three common vegetable-gardens that provide the building with a layer of protection from the sun and thermal insulation and which retains rainwater to be recycled for domestic reuse. From a structural point of view, we opted for a mass timber frame which guarantees a fast construction timeline, low carbon emissions and a great amount of flexibility in the design of the interior partitioning, in view of future functional changes.