Ruchonnet 6-8

Lausanne's first railway station, inaugurated in 1856, was practically in the open. A new station, opened in 1879, brought more traffic to the city center than the Avenue de la Gare could handle. At the end of the century, Avenue Ruchonnet was built, where carriages waited for customers brought in by train. Protected on the town side by a large retaining wall of Meillerie stone, the avenue saw the construction of contiguous middle-class buildings on the lake side at the beginning of the last century. Numbers 6 and 8 belong to this group of buildings erected around the 1920s. Most of the buildings faced the SBB tracks that extend the station to the west, with the signalmen's building and the old swing bridge. Today, they overlook Plateforme 10, Lausanne's new cultural district. Only some of the apartments still enjoy a view as far as Lake Geneva. This is the case for some of the six new apartments created in the attics of numbers 6 and 8, which have just been renovated.

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As well as building the new homes, the project involved bringing the building up to new standards, without really interfering with the existing accommodation, i.e. 16 apartments on four levels.

The first floor, meanwhile, currently houses a restaurant and art gallery.

The apartments created in the roof required modification of the refurbished framework, renovation and insulation of the roof. Partially attic, they are one-and-a-half, two and three-and-a-half rooms respectively. They are lit by open windows in the slope of the roof and skylights. In the common areas of both buildings, work focused on the stairwells. This involved taking measures to ensure compliance with fire protection legislation, changing the electrical supply conduits and installing fall protection. The beautiful original apartment doors were reinforced. In addition to the marble entrances, the building is adorned with stained glass windows - a sign of the times. These have been protected to prevent damage or falls. The stonework on the façade has been restored, as have the railings. The windows have been replaced.

As the building is classified as Grade 3 by the Historic Monuments Service, all interventions were monitored for compliance with protection regulations. The building has emerged rejuvenated, enlarged and ready for a new lease of life.