Description

When social housing is stigmatised, it is rarely due to a lack of architectural qualities. In fact, some of the most remarkable innovations arise in housing typologies that are subject to strict financial and bureaucratic constraints and where community interaction plays a formative role. In Illzach, Alsace – a town that is now largely subsumed by the Mulhouse conurbation – ten social housing units were built in 2016/17. Illzach is the seat of Somco, a 160-year-old housing association that is the oldest company in France building affordable housing. At the turn of the century, the company commissioned architects such as Lacaton & Vassal, Jean Nouvel and others to design contemporary social housing for this settlement with the aim of responding to current social developments and developing new housing models. The architects were encouraged to venture beyond the norm for a specific purpose. The municipality owns a site in the town centre that was unsuitable for typical property development due to the presence of a water retention basin, and the council allowed Somco to use the site on a leasehold basis. The housing association commissioned the Freiburg architects Kuhn and Lehmann to design housing with three and four-room apartments. The result is seven large apartments with around 95 m² of living space and three smaller ones with around 70 m².

What at first glance looks like a normal row of terraced houses turns out to be a clever combination of terraced and semi-detached house types in which the different sized units interlock with one another. The semi-detached houses are each accessed via a courtyard created by a garden shed and a cherry tree. The kitchen, bathroom and a large room are on the ground floor, with further rooms on the upper floors. Inside, the stairs are common industrial variants made of sheet metal, the interior walls are plastered and the floors a simple screed – a basic starting point from which the residents could develop their own interiors, which they have done in quite different ways. The residents agreed on a joint planting concept and take care of the upkeep of the houses, inside and outside. Some of the individual residential units can also be combined to form shared apartments.

The architects’ design makes very few compromises in its construction: perforated brick masonry, reinforced concrete ceiling slabs, mineral wool insulation and (recyclable) corrugated metal cladding are used and only the plastic windows cloud the otherwise robust palette of materials. Kuhn and Lehmann also achieved a coup that defines the appearance of the row of houses and provides additional living space for the residents in the warmer seasons: each unit has a two-storey, unheated conservatory, which they were able to persuade the housing association to build for about 8000 euros each on top of the original budget. Made of wood, they are clad with translucent polycarbonate sheeting. Of the windows on each floor of the apartments, one window opens directly onto the outside and one onto the conservatory. Overall, the constructions are very economical, benefitting everyone: the construction costs amounted to just 1598 €/m² and the net rents were 403 and 527 € respectively.

Originally published in Bauwelt 21.2018, pp. 34-37, abridged and edited for Building Types online, translated by Julian Reisenberger

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