DPU Social Housing | XTU architects

Social Housing in Paris (eng)

Volume and urban integration
The project creates a continious « urban ribbon » on rue Marcadet and along rue Stephenson , in which the project leans on the accommodations. On Marcadet street the project draws an outline on the upper part, and is in continuity with the street on the lower half. It is therefore integrated in rue Marcadets’ “skyline type “ silhouette.

At the corner of Duployé street the façade helps it to narrow down which creates an entrance that hides and reveals the street. The big windows punctuate the angle. Duployé Street a porous urban fringe unveils sporadically an interior garden. Constructed up to level 3 ( + set back on level 4) it creates pillars separated by trenches It reminds us by its typology the urban sequences of rue Montpensier, along the Palais Royal (Paris 1), of the rue Grabriel Laumain (Paris 10), or of la Cité aux fleurs.

The 3 metre set back from the alignment gives space for a Garden which is set up along the whole street. Some dwellings overstep the trenches, creating overhangs on the passageway. The elevations : Giving on the street an alteration of small an large sharp framed windows are freely disposed on the elevations. Some of the large windows reinforce vertically, creating a effect on the angle, as for the entrance of the rue Duployé.

The court elevation giving on the garden, balconies are “projected” out from building all along the court. The double glass railing, sometimes facing front, sometimes lateraly to give dynamise the garden view. The elevation is exterior isolation assuring the new thermal standards, and to follow the ecoligical approach wanted by the client. The elevation covering is done with white lacquered aluminium on the street side, and silver on the perpendicular elevations. In the court, the elevations are coated with white (grey on the rue Stephenson building), over the exterior isolation.

At level zero, the street walls are in (specially glazed) concrete having the same color as the rest of the elevation to assure a good resistance against ageing. We can notice that “boxes” come out of the elevations (70cm). They help define the building style and the volume expression, in particularly at the corners where they help to architecturalise the turn back of the building. They extend the interiour surface of the dwellings. At 70 cm from the floor, a glass railing to give a maximum visual comfort for the handicapped people. A aluminium frame with 3 operable windows inside enclose the building. The shading is done with interior sliding shade panels on the north elevation, and with sliding shade panels ( slide into the thickness of the exterior wall) for the “houses” of the rue Duployé on street and garden side. The access to the mechanism of the shades will be easily accessible from the interior of the dwellings.

The building will be equipped with Persian blinds. For the boxes the project will use blinds which fold into 4 parts using the totality of the boxes’ largeness (70 centimetres)

The dwellings
The dwellings are accessible from rue Duployé having to pass by the buildings’ guard lodge. The garden gives access to the different staircases. The fire-fighters enter from the rue Duployé and Marcadet. Level 0 includes 8, T2 ( 2 room apartments) accessible to handicap people. They all have acces to private terraces which are all on the garden side On the superior levels the apartments are all placed around the vertical structures and circulation of the building. The “city houses”, on the rue Duploye are developed up to level 3 / 4 (set back) corresponding to T2 and T3 apartments on the first two levels and T4 apartments on level 3 and 4 as split level flats. The double oriented dwellings are organized in free spacing set around the central water vertical circulations.

The kitchen which is disposed with a central bar table and continues into a dining room and into a living room. Openings on the trench create light variations. At level 3 and 4 there are private terraces. The apartments garden side are against the apartment building of the rue Stephenson, and start setting back at level 3 and 4. The split level flats then can have their own private terraces. All of the dwellings have their own balconies. The kitchen and the toilets are organized in the back of the apartments around light wells. The kitchens will be also open to the living room which will give a perception of a bigger space with light coming in from two sides. Dwellings on the rue Marcadet and the rehabilitation: Served by two elevators with direct acces to the parking, they both have a view on the street and on the whole garden. The rehabilitated building has less dwellings than predicted due to the existing walls. The south part of the building has been destroyed in able to rationalise the vertical distributions with the new buildings.

The dwellings on the Duployé/Marcadet go up to level 4 On the Marcadet Ordener side, the project goes up to level 7 partially in able to take advantage of the farsighted view on the tracks. Shops are put on ground level on the rue Marcadet. The supermarcket at the corner has shop windows on both sides. It also has special delivery park space on rue Marcadet and also a storeroom underground. Parkings are accessible by two staircases and elevators they are dispatched with two levels. There will be two holes in the garden which will give natural light to the parking.