129 Units, Ourcq-Jaurès Student and Social Housing
Paris, France · 2013
Photo · Philippe Ruault
A precedent for high-density social housing utilizing deep balconies, floor-to-ceiling glazing, and retractable fabric awnings to optimize passive solar gain, natural ventilation, and spatial expansion.
- What we like about this project
- The entire facade can change character dynamically as individual residents raise or lower their white fabric awnings.
Materials
- glass
- aluminum
- concrete
- white-fabric-awnings
Visual identifiers
- continuous-balconies
- retractable-awnings
- glass-facade
- curved-massing
- social-housing
Style tags
- bioclimatic
- high-tech
- functionalist
- lacaton-vassal
Visual tags
- housing
- double-skin
- shading-systems
- urban-infill
- transparency
- balcony-access
- Geometry
- A long, multi-story residential block featuring a faceted, gently curving facade that follows the street bend. The facade is defined by continuous horizontal bands of balconies with floor-to-ceiling glazing.
- Facade system
- Double-skin facade with sliding glass doors and external retractable fabric awnings.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete column-and-slab structure with lightweight aluminum-framed glazing.
- Spatial scale
- Six to seven-story mid-rise residential building, scaled to match the surrounding urban density and street width.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct afternoon sunlight casting sharp shadows beneath the extended fabric awnings and highlighting the reflective glass surfaces.
- Atmosphere
- Bright, airy, and highly functional, defined by the rhythmic repetition of white fabric shades against a glass grid.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner in Paris, situated opposite a green park boundary with mature trees, blending modern housing with traditional Parisian streetscapes.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly transparent, light-filled street presence, where the boundary between interior living spaces and the public street is softened by deep balconies and operable shading elements.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong horizontal bands of balconies and awnings are balanced by the vertical rhythm of structural columns and window mullions.
- Style reading
- French high-tech functionalism / bioclimatic modernism
- Program
- Student and social housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, aluminum, concrete, white-fabric-awnings
- Visual identifiers
- continuous-balconies, retractable-awnings, glass-facade, curved-massing, social-housing
- Style tags
- bioclimatic, high-tech, functionalist, lacaton-vassal
- Visual tags
- housing, double-skin, shading-systems, urban-infill, transparency, balcony-access
- Geometry
- A long, multi-story residential block featuring a faceted, gently curving facade that follows the street bend. The facade is defined by continuous horizontal bands of balconies with floor-to-ceiling glazing.
- Facade system
- Double-skin facade with sliding glass doors and external retractable fabric awnings.
- Structural guess
- Reinforced concrete column-and-slab structure with lightweight aluminum-framed glazing.
- Spatial scale
- Six to seven-story mid-rise residential building, scaled to match the surrounding urban density and street width.
- Lighting
- Bright, direct afternoon sunlight casting sharp shadows beneath the extended fabric awnings and highlighting the reflective glass surfaces.
- Atmosphere
- Bright, airy, and highly functional, defined by the rhythmic repetition of white fabric shades against a glass grid.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner in Paris, situated opposite a green park boundary with mature trees, blending modern housing with traditional Parisian streetscapes.
- Spatial experience
- The building presents a highly transparent, light-filled street presence, where the boundary between interior living spaces and the public street is softened by deep balconies and operable shading elements.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong horizontal bands of balconies and awnings are balanced by the vertical rhythm of structural columns and window mullions.
- Style reading
- French high-tech functionalism / bioclimatic modernism
- Program
- Student and social housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture