Urban Renewal // Lausanne // Switzerland // R204DESIGN
Located in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, against the shores of Lake Geneva, Lausanne is a quiet city that is home to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee. The project site resides near the center of the city, where a gorge has been formed from an ancient river, covered since the 19th century. For years, the 12 acre area, known as Flon, served as an industrial district, surrounded by a rich fabric of historic buildings, but over time the warehouses and lots became vacant, leaving a void in the middle of the city.
An ambitious master plan was then envisioned by local developers to reinvigorate the defunct district, with the aim of bringing livelihood back to its streets and to connect various nodes and attractions in the surrounding area. A residual alley would be converted into a pleasant landscaped walk, lined with shops and cafés, terminating in a public plaza. The plaza would serve as an anchor point, adjacent to a cinema and various restaurants. One of the first projects to initiate this urban renewal would be a mixed-use project fronting the plaza.Los Angeles based R204DESIGN and local Swiss architects Plancherel/Schmid were commissioned to design the mixed-use project, which would come to be known as "Les Colonnades" for its marching columns fronting the adjacent pedestrian passage. The program consists of a high-end restaurant on the ground floor, 2 floors of commercial office space, and residential flats on the top floor.
The building employs a number of environmental design strategies to mitigate heat and energy transfer, including automated louvers and lighting schemes. The roof was designed as a series of private roof gardens for each of the 8 residential tenants, all with an inspiring view of the surrounding historic district. The compact planning of the varied program elements into a simple, clean box provided an efficient but elegant, green design that would reflect the Swiss cultural aesthetic.
Today, the area of Flon has become an example of successful urban renewal, providing pedestrians a pleasant connection by foot to the public transit nodes and historic attractions. With the guidance of the visionary master pan, the area now features several other examples of modern architecture, giving the newly defined district a coherent sense of identity and place.
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