Apartment and commercial building – 4-6-8 Avenue de Rumine
This luxury apartment and commercial building in Bellefontaine, located in a residential neighbourhood adjacent to the city centre, is an important real estate project from the interwar years in Lausanne. It was built in 1927-28 by architect Alphonse Laverrière (1872-1954), who designed the most important constructions completed in Lausanne in the first half of the 20th century (Chauderon Bridge, the railway station, the Federal Court, Bel-Air tower...) for a property company.
Five floors of accommodation rise above the ground floor, which is used for retail purposes. The use of reinforced concrete results in spacious units and the apartments are equipped with the most modern of facilities. The retail outlets are grouped together on the road on the north side of the building. The façade reveals a sober and rhythmic verticality. The south side of the building, where the bedrooms and living rooms are located, has balconies and French bay windows, ensuring maximum lighting.
The complex does not display the decorative ostentation prevalent in the early 20th century. The use of select and diverse materials, the outlines of the window bays and the wrought ironwork on the balconies reveal meticulous workmanship in a moderate modernist style.
