The context
The project for a student residence was
considered in the context of the urban
fabric of the La Chapelle district in
Paris and its role in its evolution. The
plot is on the corner of rue Philippe
de Girard and rue Pajol in the 18th
arrondissement, close to the ZAC
Pajol, an ambitious redevelopment
of former railway yards, on which
social, cultural and sports amenities are
currently being created.
The district is a very heterogeneous
mixture of Haussmannian residential
buildings, factories and workshops,
and therefore has a richness and wide
diversity of situations unusual within
Paris itself.
The street and the courtyard
The project is composed of several
buildings, whose volumes and voids
depend on the context. On the street,
three six-storey volumes are separated
by two rifts providing access to the
residence and vertical circulation.
The heights of the buildings at the
back of the plot vary according to
neighbouring buildings. In the middle,
a spacious courtyard is lit by a rift in
the south building, an extension of an
existing void.
The courtyard, the heart of the project,
provides access to the various buildings
and defines their interrelationship.
A 15 x15 metre square, it ensures
sunlight for all the rooms and acts as a
kind of green lung.
The materials
The strategy of creating a duality
between street and courtyard was
pursued in the choice of materials. The
facades, instead of imposing a single
image on the project, participate in
creating the varying atmospheres of
the spaces they envelop and delimit.
The buildings on the street are clad
in dark, slate-coloured brick, while
the buildings around the courtyard
are clad with larch planking with
folding louvred shutters in front of the
windows and balconies. The facade
along the entry passage is also clad
with larch and announces the feeling
of the space within. All the ground and
wall surfaces in the courtyard are clad
with the same light-coloured, flexible
material, normally used for sports areas
and playgrounds.
The choice of materials was dictated by
technical and architectural concerns.
Our research was guided by a desire for
durability and the sober, refined and
classical nature of our project.
The circulations
Generally speaking, the empty spaces
in the courtyard and circulations could
be said to be ‘junk space’ in that they
are by-products of the design of the
buildings. The project’s ambition was
to give these spaces so much quality
that they create a genuine ‘plus’
for residents. The exterior spaces,
interacting with the communal spaces
and acting as a buffer between private
spaces, are not merely for circulation
but provide the conviviality our project
seeks to create. As these spaces were not
part of the project specifications, their
uses can be defined and developed by
residents.
The specifications
The brief specified the construction of a
student residence of around 150 rooms,
communal spaces, administrative
premises and a caretaker’s apartment,
with RIVP acting as project manager
for the CROUS, which will run the
residence.
As one enters the residence via the rift
on the left, one successively discovers
the reception spaces, the administrative
premises (on the corner of the street
and the passageway), the communal
facilities and the study and leisure areas
around the courtyard.
The 143 rooms have three different
typologies. Students have furnished
rooms with an average surface area of
18m², with a bathroom and a kitchen
area. The view of the courtyard creates
a calm atmosphere conducive to
concentration and study. The desks are
always located near an outside view in
order to benefit from natural lighting.
Ten rooms were specially designed for
people with reduced mobility.
Energy performance
The project complies with the “Habitat
and Environment” label’s VHEP
specifications.
A combination of compactness,
treatment of the envelope, and solar
heat coupled with high-performance
ventilation and heating (urban heating
and solar panels) creates pleasant and
comfortable accommodation. The
concrete structure, insulated on the
outside with 12 cm of mineral wool,
brick or wood cladding and high-
performance double-glazed fittings,
provides efficient thermal insulation.
In winter the buildings retain their
interior heat, and in summer their
exterior insulation reduces solar and
internal overheating, while inertia
enables the capture of daytime heat and
its retention during the night.
