Mosso

Mosso
© Paola Corsini

MOSSO

Nomos

ARCHITECTS
Nomos

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Katrien Vertenten, Lucas Camponovo, Massimo Bianco, Paul Galindo, Ophélie Herranz, Maxime Poirier

ACOUSTIC ENGINEER
Architecture Et Acoustique

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Cometel

HVAC ENGINEER
Ecobuilding

CIVIL ENGINEER
Ingeni

SAFETY ENGINEER
Zanetti + Adexia Sa

COLLABORATION
Pyrus

MANUFACTURERS
Swisspearl, Balzan & Immer SA, Entreprise Moutinho, Flumroc, Forster + Hormann, HUECK, Hunziker Kalksandstein, JPF Ducret, Kästli Storen SunLine, Schüco, Terrabloc, megasol, swisspor

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER
De Cérenville Géotechnique

CLIENT
Coopérative Médecine Et Hygiène, Genève

SURVEYOR
Hkd

PHOTOGRAPHS
Paola Corsini

AREA
4100 m²

YEAR
2024

LOCATION
Geneva, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Office Buildings, Sustainability

English description provided by the architects.

Erected on the family plot owned by the client, which once housed his grandfather's printing press, Mosso is a 6-story building designed to accommodate mixed activities, in line with what is nowadays understood as "craftsmanship".

Mosso
Courtesy of Nomos
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini

Located in the centre of the rapidly evolving new neighborhood around the emergence of the Léman Express station in Chêne-Bourg, this project is a tool provided for the activities it hosts.

Thus, it aims to be as "low tech" and sustainable as possible, both in its design and implementation.

A hybrid wood-concrete load-bearing structure, with large laminated ash tree beams punctuated by holes, allowing for the passage of utilities and minimal impact of the structures on the floors:

Mosso
Courtesy of Nomos
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini

a strong desire to provide users with maximum space to offer complete freedom for the use they wish to make of it.

The facades, on the other hand, are largely glazed, bringing in maximum natural light into the future workspaces.

Composed of glass and fibre cement panels, deliberately implemented by visible mechanisms, akin to a Meccano set, to allow for the replacement, if necessary, of a panel, but also for practical aesthetics, showcasing the assemblies.

Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini

The angles of the volume, due to the inclination of the panels and their staggered installation, reveal the finesse of the facade composition, akin to a house of cards, and in homage to the place's past, strongly linked to paper.

This assembly of angled panels not only allows for the facade to vibrate but also provides space to accommodate blinds, thus shedding the superfluous bulkhead.

This slight angle given to the facade composition elements contributes to increasing the performance of the photovoltaic panels, which dress the last 3 floors, thus replacing the fibre cement panels.

Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini

Indeed, labelled THPE (Very High Energy Performance), it was necessary to use the facade to provide the significant surfaces required for photovoltaic panels.

The interior fittings, on the other hand, are raw and adopt the artisanal language of the place: sanded concrete screed floors, silico-limestone bricks, wood, visible schichtex insulating panels, galvanized steel panels, and CEB (Compressed Earth Blocks) walls.

Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini

Where possible, luminaires have been recovered from the demolition-bound building sector, as have some glass partition walls, also reused.


Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini


Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini


Mosso
© Paola Corsini
Mosso
© Paola Corsini


Mosso
Axonometry
Mosso
Section
Mosso
Figure Ground Plan


Mosso
Ground Floor Plan
Mosso
3rd Floor Plan
Mosso
5th Floor Plan


Mosso
Cyanotype 1
Mosso
Cyanotype 2
Mosso
Detail