Saphir & Tourmaline

In resonance with the Léman Express railway stop — whose roof and emergent structures are formed through the repetition of large glazed units — the two new buildings adopt an architectural vocabulary of regular grids, housing the domestic program of apartments in the manner of “urban shelves.” The grand scale of infrastructure is extended into the modularity of the buildings’ structure, achieved simply by stacking massive pillars and slender slabs, thereby creating the urban figure of the project.

The siting softens the pointed edge of the plot through the addition of a chamfered cut, opening toward the station square and fluidifying the spatial transition to the new street. The apartments are conceived as free, through-spaces punctuated by programmatic insertions nestled between the concrete pillars. Their spatiality and openness benefit from the site’s contrasting qualities: to the north, a broad esplanade offering vistas toward a verdant landscape; to the south, a pedestrian street defined by two strong urban alignments.

At ground level, a continuous arcade reinforces the urban character of the street, providing sheltered thresholds for the various residential entrances and the shopfronts.