SQUAT N°2

Can a building evolve at the rhythm of its uses?

We tried to answer this question with the SQUAT N°2 project. To think of a flexible project whose architecture can adapt to the changing needs of its inhabitants through a temporality.

The base of the project marks this notion of temporality. The project take place on a bunker dating from the Second World War located in Gland. Having only been used for exercises, it is left abandoned on the banks of Lake Geneva.

The SQUAT N°2 project is simply a tower made of masonry built on the bunker where anyone can come and hang his house legally.

In order to obtain this level of regularity, the tower is worked with a relatively precise calepinage. This brick tower is composed of a fixed load-bearing structure and a relatively modular non-load-bearing structure. The supporting structure is composed of vertical elements, the pilasters. These pilasters have holes that can accommodate a wooden frame. The supporting structure is also composed of lintels, thus offering a horizontal solidity but also allows a free opening of the facade.

This free opening is possible thanks to the non-bearing brick walls closing the hollows formed by two lintels. These possible openings offer access to a central staircase, the central circulation element of the project. It is also possible to route technical installations to the dwellings thanks to future possible cavities.

This layout has been studied in such a way as to offer a perennial but nevertheless modular static base in order to accept as much as possible construction materials coming directly from the public market or from large retailers. Everyone is free to come and settle on the facades of this tower.