Vegetal house

Shortlist competition, winning project. Cooperative housing building, vegetation covered facade, high ecological standards

Geneva

2007 - 2009

Vegetal house

The major issue with this project is to design a convivial building in a tough neighbourhood. The approach is to connect two plazas located on either side of the site. The building appears like a light mass with a green façade covered in vegetation, which offers thermal comfort by protecting the façade from excessive exposure to the sun and contributing to improve the neighbourhood. The logic of the floor plan focuses on openness and flexibility, thanks to the design of one general-purpose room connected to a single stairwell. This area of circulation allows all residents of the building to meet and move around in an open space.

The general-purpose room facing this space allow each apartment to connect to this circulation area. This room constitutes the entrance to the apartment, its walls are transparent and comprised of windows that can be obscured. The resident can therefore decide the degree of openness to the collective space, through a system of curtains that easily alter the area’s layout. The project integrates the notion of flexibility in its floor plan, which can be designed accordingly for a variable number of rooms on every floor. Using a multiple-choice method for a constructive solution, the building is designed to incorporate the Minergie Plus and Minergie Eco labels.

group8, Vegetal house, Geneva, 2007 - 2009

Program

Housing

Specifications

Vegetation covered facade
High ecological standards

Client

CodHa

Commission type

Shortlist competition, winning project

Image credits

©Archigraphie, Philippe Cointault