- Client
- Municipality of Bellevue
- Location
- Bellevue, Switzerland
- Category
- Public
- Project with
- Caal Architectes
- Renders
- Playtime
Our public places are vital nodes in the city. They are places where communities come alive, where neighbors meet, and where a sense of belonging is fostered. Green spaces in particular, are key if we want our cities to be healthy, vibrant and liveable.
In the case of Bellevue (Switzerland) —A city along the road between Geneva and Lausanne, the natural surroundings are a part of the city’s identity, which turn the area into the perfect place to use architecture, not as a separate entity, but as a tool to deeply connect nature to city and vice versa.
THINKING IN PUBLIC SPACE
RATHER THAN ARCHITECTURAL VOLUME
Bellevue is home to Port Gitana, a green, public area next to Lake Geneva, with the Massif du Mont-Blanc in the background. Very judiciously, the Municipality of Bellevue launched a contest to upgrade the plot, using the construction of a new albergue and public building as a means to create a connection between the lakeside and the town hall square in the centre of the city.
Similar to our intervention in Dubrovnik (Croatia), we based our proposal on the design of a promenade, which means that the project aims to create as much fluid, and pedestrian public space as possible, instead of focussing on a volume we project for the sake of architectural pleasure. Consequently, we proposed two buildings instead of one, allowing us to weave the project into the existing urban fabric of the city, and to intervene as little as possible in the natural environment of the area.
CONNECTING NATURE TO THE CITY
AND VICE VERSA
As project and city speak the same language, both become part of the same whole. The two buildings fragmentize the structure and plot of Port Gitana, creating a series of layered, human scale public spaces around them, which function as an intermediate area and an intuitive connection between the lake and opposing street, blurring the lines between nature and city. Both volumes are kept simple and permeable, creating an architecture that doesn’t impose but invites, both its environment and community to participate inside.
Each building is divided into three floors, climbing up from a public to a more private usage, while a basement creates a connection between the two, including the common installations and services for both entities. In the public building, we find an exhibition hall, on the ground floor, with staircases giving way to multipurpose, flexible and modular rooms, including classrooms, while the third floor is destined to offices for the city council. Meanwhile, the separate auberge includes a hall connected to a bar and restaurant, giving way to views onto the lake. Floor two and three are private, including seven bedrooms on each floor.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BASED ON RESOURCE CONSERVATION, COST EFFICIENCY AND HUMAN ADAPTATION
A sustainable project is designed and built in an ecological and resource efficient manner. Implementing sustainability principles in our proposal, we apply a triple approach, including resource conservation, cost efficiency and design for human adaptation. Both buildings are constructed in wood, a pure, natural material which allows for easy disassembly, due to the use of timber pegs which connect the different members of the construction. The design thus becomes flexible, as different members can be prefabricated and composed into a modular structural system.
In order to generate an optimal building performance (i.e., indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting quality and acoustics), the North, East and West facade are partly permeable, letting in the light, but protecting from the heat, while the South facade is left open completely, giving way to views on the lake. On this side of the project, a system of outside, automatic blinds regulates light and heat throughout the days and seasons, allowing for sun in winter and lowering heat in the summer. Combined with a natural ventilation system, the project takes into account all possible strategies to generate optimal energy consumption in the interior spaces.
