2161 The Gardens of La Gradelle Geneva

Location:
Cologny Geneva, Switzerland

Project Phases:
Competition 2017, 1st Prize; Realization 2019 – 2020

Client:
Real Investissement Immobilier

Landscape Architecture:
Studio Vulkan

Architecture:
LRS Architectes

Photography:
Daniela Valentini, Studio Vulkan

Details:

• [living]
• [park]
• [vegetation]

Reimagining the Garden City

This project offers a contemporary interpretation of the garden city, subtly interweaving human and landscape dimensions. At the heart of a spacious garden, three buildings of varying volumes are embedded within the landscape. This composition provides a playful and non-repetitive response to the heterogeneous built context – defined by large ten-story apartment blocks to the southeast and smaller-scale semi-detached houses to the west.

Each apartment is conceived as an interior landscape, with a generous living space arranged around a corner loggia. The private rooms are recessed into the building volume, allowing the garden to unfold as a shared open space for all residents.

A gently curving path runs along the property boundaries, linking all of the park’s amenities – play areas for children, visitor parking spaces, bicycle storage, and access points to the surrounding streetscape. Between this pathway and the buildings, spacious semi-public green areas emerge, defined by naturalistic flowering meadows. The central courtyard is reserved primarily for the residents, offering a quieter, more intimate atmosphere with low-threshold entrances to the homes.

To subtly distinguish these two zones, the perimeter path is constructed from a different material than the asymmetrical paving surrounding the buildings and garden – the landscape heart of the ensemble.

The existing trees on site are largely preserved and carefully integrated into the planting concept. Tall, high-canopy park trees are added along the outer path facing the street, while smaller to medium-sized species enrich the inner core of the site. Over time, a green framework will grow and evolve. The planting selection was informed by an analysis of the successful tree species found in neighboring gardens and properties – ensuring continuity, resilience, and site-specific identity.