Villa Favre is a two-family house located in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, a northern district of Lausanne on Lake Geneva. The house comprises a 200-square-meter residence for the Favre family, as well as a 100-square-meter unit that is rented out long-term.
SNA made these allocations legible in the footprint of the house, which assumes an irregular hexagonal shape. The decision creates privacy for the two families, in turn. Separate entrances face away from one another, and differently angled windows prevent looking into the adjoining yard.
The facade further expresses a two-part interior configuration. The ground floors of both residences are public areas for eating, working, and socializing, whereas the upper floors are meant for rest and relaxation. Shutters fitted to the upstairs windows can be closed for the night, like a metaphor: the building closes its eyes when it goes to sleep. Exterior materials further illustrate the floors’ different functions, and SNA’s banding of striated concrete and wood evokes the wooded location.
The same larch wood battens as in the top floor were used to cast the in situ concrete façade on the ground floor. The relief creates a unique façade expression with a beautiful play of light and shadow. The dialogue between the mineral side of concrete with the warmth of wood creates a welcoming interior.
A generous roof terrace with garden tops the composition, where the Favre family can reside and get stunning views of the gentle hillside site and the wider surroundings.