Renovation of a Listed Apartment
Located in the first modern building in Fribourg, designed in 1936 by the architect Pierre Vauthey, the apartment is part of a pioneering architectural context characterized by a flat roof, ribbon windows, and an open plan. The building, now protected as a Category A2 cultural heritage asset, stands as a remarkable example of the introduction of modernism in Fribourg.
The concrete structure, particularly the ribbed slab, forms the foundation of a project that is attentive to the original constructive and spatial logic. The intervention adopts a position of continuity. The spaces are preserved in their original organization, respecting the initial design and its balance. Rather than transforming the layout, the project reveals its latent potential.
The main gesture focuses on the kitchen. A wall is opened at the location of a former serving hatch, which had been closed over time. This intervention acts as a connector: the kitchen replaces the wall by introducing a new transparency, extending views and uses while maintaining the legibility of the spaces.
The project seeks to reveal what had been concealed. The concrete ceiling is exposed and embraced as a structuring element, while the original materials regain their presence, freed from successive additions.
A subtle distinction is established between the spaces. The service areas are treated with a natural plaster finish, understated and matte, affirming their utilitarian character. The main spaces are reworked with a textured wallpaper, punctuated by a horizontal line at door height, echoing the original architectural features.
The woodwork completes this reinterpretation. Its tone revisits the original beige-brown, slightly adjusted, contributing to material and chromatic continuity.
The project is thus rooted in an approach of revelation rather than transformation: to preserve, clarify, and make legible the original modernist intent while introducing a measured intervention.
