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A 67 m² minimalist pop loft in Lausanne
Lake Geneva as a special guest
68 m²
Lausanne, Switzerland
Cosy minimalism
Two-bedroom
Bureau Brisson Architectes
For Sloft+ members only
This apartment was a stroke of luck and love at first sight," enthuse owners Marine and Romain. We were vaguely looking to buy, but we were on a tight budget and wanted to stay in our neighborhood. One day we came across this ad for a sale 300 meters from our previous apartment, within our price range, with a breathtaking view and everything to redo... Everything we ever wanted!"
This 1920s building on the Languedoc hill is full of charm. The south-east-facing, unoverlooked apartment enjoys views of the lake and mountains, and natural light throughout the day. "
It 's
like living in the sky," says Marine. However, on first visit, this major asset is not immediately obvious, to say the least!
"The organization of this 3-room apartment was characterized by its blind corridor, which occupied more than 10 m² and served very compartmentalized spaces, with a kitchen lost at the far end of the living room! In this configuration, the apprehension of the lake was relegated to an anecdotal moment, at the end of the corridor, in the living room", remembers Alan Hasoo, from Rocades* architects, in charge of the project. "
The apartment was in such a state that we didn't want to keep anything except the parquet floor, the windows and the radiators," confirm Marine and Romain. The architects suggested that they put the light and the view back in the spotlight, and they went for it, breaking everything down to start again from scratch. Luckily, there were no load-bearing walls to restrict the architects' imagination: all the partitions were removed, the lost square meters of the old corridor were reintegrated into the new central space of the living room and the now open kitchen, and the master bedroom was placed to the south, separated from the living room by a very thin metal-framed glass wall, thus inviting distant views of the lake and mountains into the heart of the apartment. On an unexpectedly positive note,
"these open spaces allow Lou [their 2-year-old daughter, ed.]
to live her life while always having one of us in her field of vision. It reassures her and doesn't force us to 'live' in her room." Says a delighted Marine. But above all,
"this place reflects our desire to live a minimalist lifestyle. Being open-minded has forced us to rethink the way we buy and accumulate. Because living in a loft means that all our "privacy" is visible, and for us this means that everything has to be uncluttered and tidy. It's extremely pleasant to live in a place without too much stuff everywhere (for us, anyway!). Here, the only open objects, apart from the furniture, are our books, which we like to share or lend...". * In Swiss, the word "rocade" means to interchange, to replace one by one.
If you follow the Chemin des Matines, you’ll discover the building where Marine and Romain have finally found their happiness, with its mansard-tiled roof and corbeled balconies.
