The manufacture of the block 04, made
of 60 + 60 housing units, is the result of
a joint workshop of two architectural
firms: AZC and Cantin Planchez . This collaboration
has allowed us to approach the
issue of housing in a free and insightful way. We therefore propose a diversity of volumetric devices, duplexes, lofts, houses, terraces, balconies, loggias,
gardens ... The
new entity offers an
architectural variety which responds to the urban scale of the site as well
as to the domestic character of its program.
The site distinguishes itself by the relation to the
port and the urban space. This situation generates a public space that adapts
to the key urban elements and in the same time interferes with the surrounding
landscape. Inspired by the ports surrounding buildings, our project offers
collective housing as well as individual house-type units. These qualities, as the
modern and reassuring aspect, are obtained due to the rigour of the bay design,
the choice of the materials and the use of bright colours.
The main challenge of the project is to fabricate efficient
and desirable collective housing, allowing around each unit a generous amount
of private space.
Our
architectural project is not limited to volumes and façades. We take into
account the quality of life of its users, the quality of the environment it
generates. This is often measured by the
sustainability of buildings and their functional flexibility. We therefore took into account the capacity
of the building to evolve and adapt.
The purpose of the building base is to protect the
housing units from the noise nuisance coming from the road and the walkway
along the canal. The objective of designing the two buildings is to create double
exposure, diagonal views and transparency on all the levels of the block.