Cherry season: A solar-powered care home made of wood
The FOREMS association has unveiled the winner of the study contract for the future socio-medical facility in Payerne in the La Coulaz quarter on the banks of the Broye. The estimated CHF 30 million project with a capacity of 80 nursing home beds and short-stay places should be completed in 2027.
The winner of the study contract, which was selected from five applicants, is the team led by Stoa Architekten, accompanied by the landscape architects Forster-Paysage and the structural and façade planners from Lüchinger+Meyer. The young architecture office, whose practice focuses on sustainability, won over the jury with its project “Le temps des cerises” (Cherry season), in which wood is omnipresent and visible in the living spaces of the residents.
Architect Pascal Deschenaux emphasises that the challenge was to “simultaneously create a tool for the carers and a living space for the residents.”
The project places three four-storey buildings next to each other, clad with a cherry-coloured façade. The offset of the buildings creates spacious outdoor areas with a kind of village square on the street side and a landscaped garden on the Broye side. A landscaped terrace allows the residents to come into contact with the earth and vegetation in a safe environment.
Remarkable: photovoltaic panels are attached to the façade. Similar to sun blinds, they merge with the façade and supply the building with clean electricity.
(Visualisations: Nightnurse Images / Model photos: Stoa architekten)
