16b - Fréquel-Fontarabie

16b - 30 housing units in Fréquel-Fontarabie

261 Bd Raspail, Paris

The last step in the development of the Quartier de la Réunion ZAC. The Fréquel-Fontarabie block reveals an older layout of small elongated parcels. There are also traces of a “Faubourg” type of architecture, characterized by low-slung buildings consisting of urban houses situated at the edge of their parcels. If the four lots have the same program, their urban role differs significantly according to their location: to form a threshold for the square (lots 6A-B), to continue the existing building (lot 6C), to create a light gap (lot 3).

the apartments are organized throughout four structures and provide affordable living while paying specific attention to sustainable building. The collective spaces - corridors, courtyards and staircases - have been particularly well cared for, so as to transform them into living spaces, in the manner of the faubourienne architecture that still exists in the district. The buildings have three to five levels. The recess of the upper levels ensures the articulation with the adjacent buildings, and keeps the whole from being too monumental. The architectural style favors sobriety: the facade cladding is a black stained concrete thermal precast for lots 6 A-B-C, or a larch wood cladding for lot 3. Folding steel shutters on lots 6 A-B-C allow for natural light screening and privacy. The wooden window frames soften the black facades. The morphology of the building and the materiality allow each building to be individualized. The design of the facades limits energy losses: to the north, they are closed, while to the south, they are open onto the garden; balconies extend the living rooms of the apartments. Solar panels on the roof provide the buildings with energy.

This effort has sought to reduce the visible level of inhabitability, build new housing, value existing resources, and design nearby public facilities in an effort to create quality public spaces. The project to build thirty housing units has pursued a dual goal: to reconstruct the older urban fabric through small interventions within an overall framework of sustainable development. 88