Avenue de Morges
The project is located at the edge of Lausanne’s city centre, where the dense inner city becomes an urbanism of isolated buildings. The main idea of the layout is to reinforce the urbanity of the neighbourhood, whilst providing a high quality external space. For this reason the street-facing facades are almost continuous, only interrupted by 8 meters wide gaps, the minimum distance set by the city building regulations. This configuration then allows the buildings to offer a protected central courtyard, free from the noise of passing traffic around.
The project is unified by the star-shaped geometry of the central courtyard, which will be densely planted to become a lush, verdant garden. The project is based on these strong contrasts: between the urban and closed on the outside, and the leafy and permeable inside. This fertile garden is welcoming, and a playground for children makes this space lively and inhabited. Access to the apartments is from both sides, so that each staircase has an entrance on both the street and garden sides, and the buildings act as a porous filter between the street and garden.