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Architects: NZI Architectes
- Area: 1300 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Simon Guesdon
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Manufacturers: Technal, Wienerberger
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Lead Architects: Sandra de Giorgio, Gianluca Gaudenzi
Text description provided by the architects. The corner plot project involves real reflection because it is located at the intersection of two streets which express their own identity. The angle must find the right balance between the different characters expressed by the city’s arteries.
So in order to find the scale of the context here, we gave a reading of 2 buildings:
- a) a corner building belonging to Rue Terre-Neuve in close dialogue with its linear layout and more specifically with the adjoining building.
- b) a building with r+4 / r+2 which belongs to rue Buzenval. A r+3 storey was created set back, respecting the imposed template. This involves maintaining the principle of spreading specific to this type of sloping building.
The corner building finds its volume according to urban rules. Its identity is outlined through the reading of the neighboring building designed with a grid of windows and horizontals expressed by cornices.
We align the ground floor at 3.20 and express the order of the neighbor's building (1/2/2/1) thanks to the addition of locksmith guardrails which envelop this building marking the horizontals. This reading made of horizontals and superposition of volumes seeks to fragment the height of the building reducing its vertical impact.
The brick facade offers a fine fitting with a fine installation generating shadows projected on the facade.
The joinery is made of full-height wood and the concealments as well as the frames, integrated into the thickness of the facade, are made of warm-colored metal. The corner of the building is rounded, a pattern that we also find in the courtyard. The building on the rue Buzenval side stands out from the corner building to create a contrast and take up a contextual urban scale. The facade is made up of a smooth, mass-tinted white pre-wall. Its smooth, generous appearance contrasts with the roughness of the brick of the corner building.
The fully opening joinery will be made of wood, the frames will be made of metal of the same color. The occultations will be the same as the brick building.
After the corner, a transparent gap housing the common circulation areas marks the beginning of the second building. Ranging from r+2 to r+4, we wanted not to create an penthouse on the r+4 part in order to minimize the volumetric impact. The construction of an penthouse in the heart of the block opposite the town houses would create too large a mass, out of scale for the rear part of the plot.
We are designing an open skyline which will allow the penetration of lights into the courtyard and views towards the sky from the heart of the block.
