Description

Architect Sophie Delhay employed the same basic principle of the housing estate Unité(s) in Dijon in a slightly looser form for another project with 32 units for the social housing association Habellis completed in 2020. As before, a basic unit of 3.60 × 3.60 m is used as a point of departure. This square is then combined in different ways and results in apartments of varying size. The “32 Logements-Cathédrale” on Rue Ernest Champeaux in the new “Eco-cité Jardin des Maraîchers” neighbourhood has a broader range of variants comprising an end building with five flats, a further five units in a row of terraced houses, and a tall block of 22 flats. Here the units all feature a double-height main space – the “Salon cathédrale” – with a height of 5.40 metres. This space not only makes the flats feel immeasurably larger and “airy” but also affords a considerable variety of spatial interactions. Thanks to the double-room height, additional space in the form of a gallery floor can be created later. According to Delhay, residents were thus provided with the option of additional densification without having to undertake costly building measures. In order to keep the price for the flats at a reasonable level, the materiality of the interiors is uniformly simple and consists of concrete. The raw concrete, the glass of the double-height windows and the private outdoor spaces such as curtained balconies or terraces are characteristic for this ensemble. The estate also has a number of communal facilities: a garden, a meeting/communal room of 100 m² and a roof terrace.

Originally published in Bauwelt 17.2020, pp. 38-47, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

 

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