In La Tour-de-Peilz, WALO built a block of flats on behalf of the investment group AXA Real Assets Switzerland – with a tower crane in the foundations of the underground car park, a change of materials midway through the project and using exposed concrete whose quality speaks for itself.
The order: 31 rental flats and an underground car park
A new block of flats was built beside the Route de Saint-Maurice on a 4,000 m² plot in the canton of Vaud between November 2023 and February 2025. The objective was clear: to build 31 rental flats and a shared underground car park – to be completed by the deadline and executed with care in the heart of a growing municipality. WALO saw to the earthworks, bricklaying, reinforced concrete and specialised elements.
Unique aspects of the job: tower crane in the foundations and switch to recycled concrete
Setting up the construction site presented significant challenges from the outset. In order to work efficiently within the limited space available, we installed a Wilbert WT 180 tower crane, with its base directly in the foundations of the underground car park. This solution saved space while also taking the structural engineering of the building into account.
More challenging still was a decision made after the contract had already been awarded: instead of using traditional concrete, we were to use type C concrete containing recycled building materials. We investigated two different ways of achieving this – producing our own concrete on the construction site or having it supplied to us from an external mixing plant. The more economically viable option turned out to be sourcing it by mixer truck from the Claie-aux-Moines gravel works.
“It’s always tricky when there’s a change of plan midway through executing a project. In this case, WALO found a pragmatic solution quickly and it worked out both technically and logistically,” says Serge Truchard, an architect at cBmM SA and a partner in the firm. “I’d like to say a special thank you to Grégory Ogay, the construction manager, and Anatoliy Shevchenko, the foreman. The entire team put in an excellent performance.”
The gravelly subsoil proved to be an additional advantage: almost all of the excavated material – around 7,350 m³ – was successfully recycled. Instead of landfill, we sent it to gravel pits for processing, thus closing the loop and tangibly reducing the environmental footprint of the project.
Execution with type III and IV exposed concrete
The formwork was not a routine matter. For the walls, we used Doka Framax formwork with wooden planks for shuttering, so that the grain imprinted onto the concrete. For the ceilings, we used traditional wooden formwork with H20 beams and three-ply panels. The exposed concrete was of type III or IV quality.
With this is mind, test pours were carried out at the start of the construction work, close dialogue was maintained with the concrete suppliers regarding its composition and water content, meticulous care was taken of the formwork and the concrete was only ever poured in dry weather conditions. The same team carried out the set-up and compacted the soil across the whole of the construction site. This ensured consistent quality from beginning to end.
“When it comes to exposed concrete, there’s no margin for error. But if you work meticulously right from the start and the entire team pulls their weight, you get the end result that you envisaged,” says Anatoliy Shevchenko, the foreman.
The result: deadline met and maximum satisfaction all around
31 rental flats and an underground car park were delivered on time and all stakeholders involved are delighted with the result.
Minh Ly, Development Project Manager, Real Assets, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Switzerland AG: “We try to take a more sustainable approach to construction with every new project, but this isn’t always plain sailing. This is why we value partners like WALO so highly. They even bent over backwards to change the materials used midway through the project.”
WALO is about finding solutions, even when circumstances change at short notice. Grégory Ogay, the construction manager, echoes this mantra: “This project goes to show what can be achieved when everyone pulls together – the team on the construction site, the client and the planners. The result speaks for itself.”
Product photos © Vincent Jendly
