Description
The property is completely surrounded on four sides by buildings and only on the
extreme northwestern corner does it border on rue Pampoule, from which it is
accessed. Eighteen public housing units were inserted into a park-like lot with
large trees and trellises for pear trees. The five individual volumes are linked
with one another via footbridges. This results in a construction composed of
small parts, with an alternating sequence of access and loggia volumes as well
as living spaces. By dividing the program into small parts, the intimate,
landscape-oriented character of the site is reinforced.
The entire lot is enclosed by existing walls. The conscientious design of the
exterior alternates lawn, asphalt, and water-bound surfaces. The six apartments
on the ground floor are on the level of the surrounding terrain with no
threshold. Nevertheless, the lower units have no private terraces or gardens.
The entire area outside the building is a common zone and can be used by the
residents for various activities. On the north side of the building there are
eighteen ground-level parking places.
The stair access and the private loggias are condensed into two independent
volumes. Access to the apartment is via a footbridge from a gallery-like
structure in front that serves as a kind of “green room.” Thus every unit
evolves as a U-shape around a patio-like exterior area, part of which is planted
with trees. All of the apartments have views in more than one direction.
The private sphere within each apartment is preserved by covering the entire
facade with a wood “palisade” structure. This structure on top of the perforated
facade serves as a sunshade, blocks views inside the units, and filters the
light in the interior. The palisades can be rolled up like shades around the
window openings. The translucent screen envelops the living spaces, the volume
of the gallery, and the entrances to the units, thus creating a private sphere
appropriate to the place.
Drawings
Site plan, scale 1:2000
Apartment access diagram
Ground floor, scale 1:500
Upper floor, scale 1:500
Cross section, scale 1:500
Typical apartment, scale 1:200
Photos
Exterior view
Interior view of the vertical access core
Originally published in: Ulrike Wietzorrek, Housing+: On Thresholds, Transitions, and Transparencies, Birkhäuser, 2014.