MultiUse

Multi-Use Building

Client: D. Nougan

Location: Grand Bay, Mauritius

Size: 2000 SF commerical space

2000SF residential apartments

Concept: Built in a neighborhood where new cast-in-place concrete buildings are gradually replacing the context of massive volcanic stone walls, this multi-use building was designed to utilize this ubiquitous construction method while preserving the vernacular stone wall. The lower commercial spaces are accessed through penetrations in the existing wall while the studio residences above peek over the top of it. Natural light finds its way into the commercial spaces through a clerestory gap above the wall and through recesses in the upper floors between the residential tenants. In an effort to create a feeling of separation from the adjoining unit and from the street below, while still being open to Mauritius' brilliant daylight, the floor, wall, and roof planes extend past the enclosure of the building to create a spatial buffer for the tenant.