Rue Caroline 15, Lausanne
Short description
It runs from south to north and forms a link between the traditional shopping district of Rue de Bourg and the newer developments upstream towards the Cité Hospitalière.
The project
The project is based on regulations that require the volumetry to be maintained and divides the 38.00 m long building into five sections. The three-storey building with access via the mezzanine is well suited for the creation of five duplex lofts on the ground and second floors and five studios on the lower first floor. Large vertical windows, whose size and proportions are reminiscent of the building's industrial past, open up views of the cathedral. At the rear, there are smaller openings that look out onto the building's inner courtyard. A loggia functions as an access corridor on the first floor and acts as a buffer element between the apartments and the traffic. The maisonette lofts are designed to give users plenty of freedom. All services, bathrooms, kitchens and sanitary facilities are arranged in the form of a central island on both floors and offer the possibility of designing the space around this block and possibly parcelling it up, depending on the wishes of the prospective tenants. The special character of these apartments is particularly evident in the spatial perception on two levels, as the floor slab of the second floor allows a large opening to the first floor and the entire apartment is equipped with one and the same glazing over the entire double height. These windows can be opened by sliding them vertically using a system specially developed for this case.
Services in detail
The buildings are arranged in a coherent order and have large dimensions that define the banks of Rue Caroline. At number 15, a narrow lane leads to a former industrial and commercial building characterized by an irregular, reduced volumetry related to the parcelling, with its main sides facing north, towards the valley side with a view of the city and its cathedral, and south, towards Rue Caroline. The building with a volume of 6,000m3 SIA, which was previously used as a garage, was converted to residential use, paving the way for the creation of ten loft apartments with a gross floor area of 995m2 plus 120m2 of communal space with a floor area of 440m2.
Building volume: 6,000m3