The project is based on simple principles intended to produce an architecture which is energy-efficient, convenient for its users, and which enhances the adjacent public spaces and the urban landscape as a whole.
thick facades
The lateral and south-west facades overlooking the future college contain all the living areas, while the least sunny facades house almost all the bedrooms. Due to their internal organisation, the buildings do not include a secondary facade, which helps to positively qualify all the public or semi-private spaces which surround the development.
mixed structure / light facade
The structure combines cores and supporting facades, the latter being composed of posts or occasional piers. The central area of the buildings contains vertical circulations and wet rooms, allowing space for a perimeter ring of key, interchangeable rooms. This structural principle is combined with structural wooden floors which enable significant spans, reduce the grey energy involved in the construction of the buildings, and bring homely qualities to the interior of the dwellings. The envelope of the buildings is composed of a wooden frame and clad with slightly corrugated fibre-cement boards.
Dual-aspect dwellings / triple orientations
The dwellings are all dual-aspect and benefit from three orientations, thanks to the bow-window design of their living rooms. The lateral facades and long south facades are largely glazed and protected by the loggia recesses, as well as by projecting awnings which help to enhance the privacy of these external areas. On the bedroom side, folding shutters offer a combination of night-time screening and ventilation.
tectonics, repetition and differences
The facades are treated in a unitary manner, enhancing the structural elements of the buildings, and are adapted to the overall organisation of the development. The slab edges and lintels/imposts are made of exposed concrete, providing a contrast with the piers and posts whose hammered finish brings out a light blue/green graining. Metal parts are powder coated in a sandy yellow tone, close to the anodised colour of the window frames and to the undersides of the flooring left as untreated wood.
