Saphir & Tourmaline

The two buildings echo the nearby railway stop, whose roofs and projections are built from repeated large glass units. They take on a regular grid that shelters the apartments like urban shelves.

The large scale of the infrastructure carries into the modular structure, made simply by stacking massive pillars on thin slabs, which gives the buildings their urban scale. The plan softens the tip of the site with an extra face toward the station square, easing the flow of space along the new street.

The apartments are open plans punctuated by elements set between concrete pillars. They draw on the contrasts of the site: a broad esplanade to the north with views of green landscape, and a pedestrian street to the south framed by two urban frontages.

At ground level a continuous arcade confirms the urban character of the street and gives sheltered access to the apartment entrances and shop windows.