frundgallina architectes . photos: © J.-C. Frund
Close to the historic center of Auvernier, a village characterized by its beautiful 17th century winegrower’s houses, four specific functions invest a remarkable empty plot and dialogue with elements of the surrounding. The historic stone wall, marking the limit between the public street and the plot, is preserved as it stands. A new perpendicular dilatation of the wall contains a community space and precisely defines two sides, the garden and the courtyard. To the south, a small service building encloses the gravel courtyard by leaning against the west wall delimiting the plot. Exploiting the differences in topography, the nursery is placed one level down from the courtyard on the former shores of the lake. This makes it disappear at the village level and asserts the southern limit of the property in the continuity of the neighboring parcels. And in the middle of the garden radiates the ten-unit rental house. Each of these four buildings are cut, or folded, to sculpt the exterior voids and provide interesting perspective views. The volumes are sometimes interrupted to provide crossing paths for villagers. Together, they forge specific urban links. The singular geometry of the plan of the rental house, made of setbacks and swellings, associated with the half-level spatial organization, combined with the shape of the two-sided roof covered with old tiles, as well as the formal variety of the windows piercing the plastered wall; all of these factors contribute to express such a rich composition that it gives off a mirror effect in which the houses of the village are reflected.
frundgallina, ©2016
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Construction of a residential building, a community space and a nursery in Auvernier
Architecture competition: 2013
Project: 2014-2015
Built: 2016-2017
Client: municipality of Milvignes
Architect: frundgallina architectes fas sia
Photographs: © J.-C. Frund
