Once victim of urban sprawl, western Lausanne is organizing its growth with the principles of New Urbanism and Smart Growth. An example of this trend is the « jardins de Prélaz » complex.

Built on the site of a former bus depot, the complex is made of different buildings, designed by different architects, and can be divided in 3 different areas:

1) The Square

This is the entrance door of all the complex: it hosts the transit stops, a supermarket and a pharmacy.

The transit stops, seen from the square.

2) The Street Front:

The public façade of this complex, it follows the street alignment and the average height of the surrounding buildings. The ground floor hosts commerces and public services, and has a different texture than the above, residential floors.

3) The Gardens:

From the square, an alley leads to the Gardens, a group of row houses organized into small courtyards and small gardens.In this area, most buildings have external stairs and corridors.

Stairs and corridors are on the backside of the street front buildings too.

view of one of the courtyards.

View of the alley, looking towards the square.