Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building

Meier + Associés Architectes

SANITARY ENGINEER
Sedelec

FIRE SAFETY ENGINEER
Orqual

COLLABORATING ARCHITECTS
Lennart Steemans, Romain Lekieffre, Enzo Poncet, Alexandre Weemaels

SURVEYOR
Hkd Geomatique

MANUFACTURERS
Kaldewei, Décoplus Parquets, Nic Design, Otis, Soprema, Wever & Ducr

HEATING AND VENTILATING ENGINEERING
M+s Ingénieurs Conseils

ACHIEVEMENT ARCHITECT 
Pahk

DESIGN TEAM
Philippe Meier, Ariane Poncet, Martin Jaques, An-inès Pepermans, Rafael Eloi

CIVIL ENGINEER
Ingeni

PHOTOGRAPHS
Federal Studio

AREA
500 m²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Switzerland

CATEGORY
Residental

Text description provided by the architects.

The project is in line with the policy of densification of the city center authorizing the elevation of existing buildings in Geneva.

Located in the Plainpalais district, the intervention is installed on a housing building built at the end of the sixties by the Honegger brothers in a corner situation between two streets whose determin-ing altimetries it prolongs.

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio

Without being considered as a remarkable project of these renowned architects, the pre-existing volume nevertheless presents a facade whose modenature, char-acteristic of the authors, highlights distinct constructive elements.

The project rein-terprets the original architectural language and its structural bays through a com-positional diagnosis.

This detailed analysis has allowed us to understand the no-tions of full and empty spaces, proportions, alignments or overhangs.

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio

Thus, the molded prefabricated concrete posts placed on the fourth floor balconies are in continuity with the existing facades and bring down the loads.

The new windows of the elevation open onto the entire frame, offering more light to the new apart-ments, but are similar in their asymmetrical design to those of the existing. 

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio

The sixth floor, set back, continues this intention, with a more contemporary materiality and expression.

The apartments added on the fifth level are based on the existing typology, four small mono-oriented apartments and one on the corner, while on the top floor a larger apartment has a terrace with a view of the city.

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
© Federal studio
Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
Plan

Finally, a "roof top" for the whole building is placed on the roof of the last level, with a 360° view on Geneva.


Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
East Facade

Raising of a Honegger Brothers Building
North Facade