MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING ON THE TOP FLOOR

ELEVATION AND CREATION OF 7 COLLECTIVE DWELLINGS

Paris 13e

Project owner: Private

Mission: Study mission + PC

Surface: 980 m² SP

Progress: Studies 2019

Program

The programme provides for the elevation of the existing building to R+3+C in order to create new housing. Thus 5 additional levels are created with 3 new common floors and 2 attic levels, allowing the construction of 7 dwellings.

As the plot is on a corner - the last one on Boulevard Vincent Auriol before arriving at Place d'Italie, coming from the Seine - the project has to reflect this strong urban location. Consequently, it is presented as a "bow" to the block, and fills an urban void on the Boulevard Vincent Auriol.

The land is located in the 13th borough, on Boulevard Vincent Auriol near the Place d’Italie, a major axis of the city of Paris.

The land is within the perimeter of the Historic Monument protection zone, and a large number of remarkable, listed and/or classified buildings and sites are located near the project. These include the Trinity Lutheran Church, consecrated in 1888, the Arts et Métiers Campus (1914), the Parc de Choisy, the Théâtre des Gobelins, the Manufacture des Gobelins, the Mobilier National, the Square Albert Le Gall, the Tour Albert, an apartment building designed by Roger Anger and Mario Heymann, and the HBMs designed by Henry Sauvage, etc.

The south of the boulevard is characterised by large housing complexes dating from the 1960s and 1970s. To the north, the architectural and urban context is more heterogeneous, with buildings representing different periods, from the 19th century to the present day.

Thus a real urban sequence takes place from the Bercy bridge to the Place d’Italie, perceptible both from street level and from the viaduct for users of the metro over a large part of the boulevard.

The project plot is fully part of this urban sequence, just before the Place d’Italie, with a privileged location due to its angular position.

The existing building on the plot, with an R+3+C, was built in 1840, and its neighbour at n°168 Bd Vincent Auriol is an R+7 building dating from 1895. Thus, today it is a very present and frontal gable that emerges after the Place des Alpes, before arriving at Place d’Italie.

In order to allow for the elevation, the Mansard roof including the attics (mezzanines) will be removed. The existing ground floor becomes a transitional floor between the existing and projected levels: its floor is retained but the façades are entirely renovated in order to create architectural continuity with the project.

The project extends the existing volume while preserving the courtyard.

The plot being a corner plot – the last one on the Boulevard Vincent Auriol before arriving at the Place d’Italie, coming from the Seine – the project must reflect this strong urban location. Consequently, it is presented as a “bow” to the island, and fills an urban void on the Boulevard Vincent Auriol.

The project asserts its position while respecting an “urban politeness”. It completes the block, responds in terms of size to the surrounding buildings, and marks its angular position with finesse.

In fact, it extends the existing volume but presents a partial double skin whose angle is slightly offset from the building. This double skin is made up of sunshades and is supported by balconies on the three current floors and the transitional ground floor.

On the top floor, the building ends with a duplex at R+7 and R+8, set back, and a green roof. The partial R+8 on the Bd Vincent Auriol side allows for an R+7 spread on the rue Godefroy side, where the adjoining building is R+3. Thus, the emerging volume generated by the project on the rue Godefroy side is reduced by one level.

The project as a whole, existing and extension, has a primary energy consumption of 53 kwh/m².year.