16 Logements Rives de la Haute Deûle
CONTEXT
Located in Lille, North of France, at the junction of the ZAC des Rives de la Haute Deûle and the existing urban fabric of Bois Blancs, the project is both a reflection of an industrial past and the urban renewal project. Belonging to one of the first housing developments to receive the Ecoquartier label, the new program complies with all the recent sustainable directives in place, the commercial space’s bears a green roof as a visual extension of the common garden.
The existing wall, with its characteristic shed profile, is maintained, allowing for a constant dialogue between the old and the new.
LAYOUT & PROGRAM
The program is mixed, mainly consisting of housing: 16 PLAIS social housing units and a commercial cell.
The height available in the existing building on the rue des Bois Blancs allows for the integration of Type 3 duplex apartments directly accessible from the heart of the block. Served by wide passageways, the four apartments offer a large living space and are through-going.
In order to reconstitute the plot, a small collective housing unit is created at the edge of the site. It mirrors the existing building with its “twin” profile. The dimensions of the two volumes are identical, hence ensuring the balance of the façade.
The space freed up in the heart of the site enables for three generous individual houses to be built within the site. By reducing the impact of the building on the ground, the layout and morphology chosen make it possible to offer a real garden, common to all.
ACCES & FLOW
A particular attention is granted to the quality of circulation and comfort of use. By using the same entrance as well as the common garden to get to their homes, the tenants ensure the project’s dynamic social life: interacting on their way in or out, as well as in the common garden.
The garden and the shop’s green roof provide the necessary distance from the dwellings and opposite views are limited. Part of the passageways is private in the form of a terrace at each end and all flats are walk-through.
IDENTITY & MATERIALITY
The preservation of the building, the wall and their characteristic red brickwork allows for a seam to be created with the existing urban fabric. The colours of the bricks, tiles, joints and ironwork have been restored. The existing wall retains its typical industrial character. It is topped by an aluminium canopy which, by highlighting the recesses, evokes the memory of the site.
At the same time, the monolithic appearance of the collective housing unit is asserted by the black colour of hand moulded bricks. Although both facades are made of bricks, the duality of colour and technique allows for a dialogue between the old and the new.
The houses are purposefully smooth and white, thus bringing the desired singularity and luminosity to the heart of the site.
