Transformation of 100 Units, Tour Bois le Prêtre, Social Housing (with Frédéric Druot)
Paris, France · 2011
Photo · Philippe Ruault
A precedent for the radical transformation of modernist social housing, demonstrating how adding lightweight wintergardens and glass balconies can completely open up a heavy concrete tower facade.
- What we like about this project
- The contrast between the ultra-lightweight glass tower and the heavy, unfinished concrete building under construction to its left.
Materials
- glass
- aluminum
- concrete
- steel
Visual identifiers
- wintergardens
- glass-balconies
- social-housing-transformation
- horizontal-bands
- curtain-wall
Style tags
- lacaton-vassal
- pragmatic
- high-tech
- contemporary
Visual tags
- adaptive-reuse
- housing-estate
- modernist-renovation
- lightweight-facade
- urban-density
- Geometry
- A tall, rectangular slab tower defined by continuous horizontal bands of glass balconies and wintergardens, contrasting with the heavier, punched-window masonry blocks in the foreground.
- Facade system
- Non-loadbearing glass and aluminum wintergarden extension system.
- Structural guess
- Concrete frame with cantilevered steel/aluminum balcony extensions
- Spatial scale
- A multi-story high-rise residential tower (approximately 17 stories) viewed from a pedestrian-scale street level.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight providing even illumination across the glass facades and minimizing harsh shadows.
- Atmosphere
- A calm, overcast urban scene where the lightweight glass tower brings a bright, modern presence to the neighborhood.
- Environmental context
- Set within an urban residential enclave in Paris, framed by older masonry apartment buildings, street trees, and pedestrian infrastructure.
- Spatial experience
- The tower rises as a light, highly glazed volume behind a screen of mature deciduous trees, offering a sense of openness and transparency compared to the traditional solid urban fabric nearby.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong horizontal rhythm established by the repeating floor plates and continuous glass balustrades.
- Style reading
- High-tech pragmatic modernism
- Program
- Multi-family social housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, aluminum, concrete, steel
- Visual identifiers
- wintergardens, glass-balconies, social-housing-transformation, horizontal-bands, curtain-wall
- Style tags
- lacaton-vassal, pragmatic, high-tech, contemporary
- Visual tags
- adaptive-reuse, housing-estate, modernist-renovation, lightweight-facade, urban-density
- Geometry
- A tall, rectangular slab tower defined by continuous horizontal bands of glass balconies and wintergardens, contrasting with the heavier, punched-window masonry blocks in the foreground.
- Facade system
- Non-loadbearing glass and aluminum wintergarden extension system.
- Structural guess
- Concrete frame with cantilevered steel/aluminum balcony extensions
- Spatial scale
- A multi-story high-rise residential tower (approximately 17 stories) viewed from a pedestrian-scale street level.
- Lighting
- Overcast, diffused daylight providing even illumination across the glass facades and minimizing harsh shadows.
- Atmosphere
- A calm, overcast urban scene where the lightweight glass tower brings a bright, modern presence to the neighborhood.
- Environmental context
- Set within an urban residential enclave in Paris, framed by older masonry apartment buildings, street trees, and pedestrian infrastructure.
- Spatial experience
- The tower rises as a light, highly glazed volume behind a screen of mature deciduous trees, offering a sense of openness and transparency compared to the traditional solid urban fabric nearby.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong horizontal rhythm established by the repeating floor plates and continuous glass balustrades.
- Style reading
- High-tech pragmatic modernism
- Program
- Multi-family social housing
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture