Situated on top of a hill in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, this three stories private villa built in the 1930’s benefits from magnificent views of the terraced vineyards of the UNESCO region Lavaux. Local studio Bureau Brisson Architectes has reconfigured the historic residence in order to create three autonomous apartments – one for the owners and two others intended for rent to students or small families.
In the lower level apartment, most of the partition walls were demolished to offer more generous living areas with better light conditions. Therefore, spaces are defined by playing with varying levels. Moreover, this 2-room apartment profits from access to the large garden. On the attic, before the transformation, an unusual layout of the rooms was resulting in a lot of unused and impractical spaces. Moving doors and opening the kitchen to the living room introduced the typology of shared accommodation.
The owners – a young couple with two kids – decided to accommodate two main floors of the house. Beside the refurbishment of all spaces, some key interventions were proposed. On the first floor, a generous master bathroom characterized by Terrazzo tiles has been designed. At the entrance, on the north facade, a band of service defined by emerald-tinted plywood boxes containing the kitchen, the unique coat closet room, and diverse storage spaces has been designed allowing to rethink the entry sequence. The addition of a vestibule finally clarifies the whole floor plan and the relationship maintained by the kitchen and the dining room with the outside.
