Sainte-Luce 9

Located in the heart of Lausanne, in a dense and historically rich neighborhood, the new residential building houses 40 apartments ranging from 2.5 to 4.5 rooms, along with premises for the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the former site owner. In a context offering limited visual clearance to the south and measured natural light, one of the main challenges was to provide residents with attractive, high-quality living spaces. The building adopts a refined and understated architectural language, integrated with neighboring historical ensembles while respecting the memory of the former church on this site.

In developing the project, the proximity to buildings across the street led to leveraging the strong potential of the north façade, which overlooks a large, bright inner courtyard of a historic building, bordered by old chestnut trees.

Thanks to generous regulatory height allowances, the project varies the levels of different rooms on each floor. Through a judicious alternation of living rooms and bedrooms around the north-south axis, the project creates an interlocking of floors offering a ceiling height of 2.70m in living rooms - creating brighter, more noble spaces - while bedrooms maintain a standard height of 2.40m.

This allows for communicating loggias with the living room that provide interesting natural light while reducing the overlooking effect through diagonal exterior views. The loggias ensure year-round comfort - accordion-style glazing allows them to open fully to the outside in summer and serve as winter gardens during cooler seasons. The facade, combining precast concrete bands and mineral render, integrates harmoniously with its environment. It invites a prolonged reading of the "interlocked" section - as a common thread, the window sizes and horizontal shelf connecting the living room to its loggia - which is located on the vertical axis of the stairwell at each floor.

The penthouse apartments benefit from a southern orientation and panoramic lake views. The building features a green roof, allowing for rainwater retention and better thermal comfort for top-floor apartments. A photovoltaic panel installation on the roof powers the air-water heat pump heating system. Air renewal in the apartments is based on an efficient, low-power consumption "low tech" concept using single-flow ventilation.

The choice of materials is based on a palette of light, warm colors, both inside and on the facade, and in the church spaces. The facade's colors and materials "extend" into the stairwells and loggias; those of the apartments have their own distinct identity.

In the living spaces, terrazzo flooring blends with oak parquet and light gray lacquered woodwork. Special attention is paid to built-in furniture finishes and bathroom fixtures. Sand-toned faience tiles cover the building entrances and loggia walls, reflecting exterior light into the living room while animating the facades.

Access to the apartments on the north side at the first-floor level allows the church to have a completely independent flow through its south-side access on the ground floor. The stairwells, with their refined, quality finishes - terrazzo flooring, light precast concrete stairs, and oak doors - benefit from natural light reflected through the loggia's glass wall.

On the ground floor, the large worship hall, lit by a light well on the north facade, can adapt to worshippers' needs through sliding oak panels. The room's atmosphere can be adjusted through backlit walls, complemented by a light well that diffuses natural light onto a plant altar. A bright reading room and a nursery area with large windows complete the space. The ensemble is characterized by an interplay between natural and artificial light, enhancing warm and timeless oak finishes.

Context

Located on Avenue Sainte-Luce in the heart of Lausanne, in a dense and historically rich neighborhood, the building occupies the former plot of the First Church of Christ, Scientist's place of worship, designed by architect Jean-Pierre Cahen and inaugurated in 1952, which had become too small for the congregation's needs. In 2011, the Church sold the plot with the condition of constructing a building offering two distinct programs: creating rental apartments on the upper floors and a new place of worship on the ground floor.