Grand Morillon Student Residence
Grand Morillon Student Residence
Kengo Kuma & Associates
ARCHITECT
Kengo Kuma & Associates
MANUFACTURERS
Regent, Sottas, Joux Sa, Mazzoli Sa, Roethlisberger
CATEGORY
Apartments, Educational Architecture, Dorms
LOCATION
Genève, Switzerland
AREA
30767 m²
LIGHTING DESIGN
Light Iq, Gerardo Olvera (Partner), Joe Riley
CLIENT
Iheid The Graduate Institute
CONTRACTOR
Complex Bau
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Iheid The Graduate Institute, Pierre Guth
STRUCTURE
2m Ingénierie Civile Sa, David Martin (Partner)
DESIGN LEAD
Kengo Kuma & Associates, Javier Villar (Partner In Charge), Aris Kafantaris (Project Manager), Nicola Maniero, Mate Meszaros, David Minton, Jennifer Chifan
YEAR
2021
LOCAL ARCHITECTS
Cche, Eric Mathez (Partner), David Minguet (Project Manager), Csilla Bajnok, Soufiane Moukarrab
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Marti Franch Batllori (Partner)
FACADE CONSULTANT
Sottas Sa
ELECTRICITY
Scherler Sa, Srg Engineering
Text description provided by architect.
In 2017, KKAA won the international competition “Résidence étudiante du Grand Morillon” organized by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.
This brief requested a proposal for a 700 beds student housing building. Besides the various types of apartments, there was the need for public and common spaces - common kitchens, laundry rooms, sports facilities, library, study areas, cafeteria, etc.-
We wanted to avoid the usual vertical program segregation (of public facilities on the ground floor and apartments on the above floors) that heavily depends on elevator circulations.
Instead, We proposed an ascendant promenade “carved” into the building’s volume, which would allow pedestrian access to all floors, from the ground floor all the way up to the rooftops.
All the necessary public facilities would be allocated along this promenade.
In this way, the architecture encourages a more walking-conscious lifestyle and provokes encounters between its inhabitants.
The hope is to offer a community-like experience to all these hundreds of students who will be coming from very different origins and that will be cohabitating here for the years to come.
