Timber iQ October - November 2017 // Issue: 34 | Page 20

PROJECTS
Diversifying the last part
of Parisian history
Passage Delessert, located in Paris, is a 100m passageway dating
back to the 1800s. After the owner failed to fulfil his municipal
obligations, it was left bare until it was redeemed by investors in
1842. Today, a further redemption that surrounds the passageway
is a social housing project that embraces the community around it.
All images courtesy of Luc Boegly
O
n the eastern end lies the Canal Saint-Martin. It also
has received a transformation as an area for
strolling and recreation. In the 1980s it was an
access road leading to the Bassin de la Villette, the fourth
largest industrial port. The activity of the port was intense
and traces of it remain in some of the surrounding industrial
buildings like the Cité Clémentel – the former power station
for the Compagnie d’Air Comprimé (SUDAC Air Service).
The housing units embrace the environment as a blend
of populations, memories and activities and a wide variety
of building types come together in a single area. The
development includes a gymnasium and 69 units of social
housing sold off plan to the city of Paris. The project seeks
to achieve a hybridisation of the grand industrial scale that
is found in the area.
The building stands along the Delessert passageway,
forming the angle of the two streets before turning back
toward the rue Pierre Dupont with the use of the Roman
loggia motif (which is an architectural feature which is a
covered exterior gallery or corridor usually on an upper
level, or sometimes ground level) on five levels built in
larch wood. This was all done by the developers to preserve
the area’s history.
It has been difficult for the neighbourhood to bid
farewell to this last little piece of the country in Paris. This
was demonstrated by a group lawsuit brought against the
project by 180 neighbours during the waiting period for the
building permit. The lawsuit stated it was against placing
tenants in the building as this would over-populate the
area. However, the structure stands to benefit the
surrounding community with a mixed-used facility
registered with the Local Planning Programme (PLU).
HOUSING SECTOR
Most of the housing units stand above the structure of the
gymnasium, which has a series of arcades spanning more
18 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2017 //
than 20m, and its beams form the steel plates for the first
level of housing and determine the framework for the
upper-level load bearing walls.
A vertical fracture separates the first gymnasium and
housing complex from a smaller section, which comprises
housing units in the upper stories as well as a series of
technical areas on the ground floor such as the guardian
reception, diverse storage areas and parking bays.
Access to each housing unit is an individual walkway that
begins in the main hall, open to the semi-private garden.
The design’s layout is inspired by those often found in
Parisian apartment buildings dating from the 1960s and
1970s – the golden age for such constructions.
Marble laid out in a herringbone pattern welcomes
visitors and occupants, which is a popular aspect of upscale
homes. The building is built with mostly raw material,
giving architects the option of using inexpensive, durable
and luxurious materials.
Residents on the second floor are placed over the base
formed by the gym and there’s a footbridge that provides
access to other housing units and landscaped terraces.
The superstructure of metal passageways inside the
building is a landscape in the heart of the city block, with a
floating balcony overlooking a garden designed by
Atelier Roberta.
IT'S ALL IN THE DETAIL
Each housing unit is constructed separately as opposed to a
single structure and then divided into individual units,
which gives residents a heightened level of privacy. On the
ground floor, metal mesh filters are installed to block out
light coming into the gym.
The many loggias, passageways, footbridges, stairs and
garden areas take privacy into account yet provide maximum
exposure to the surroundings. This goes against the
contemporary design which isolates views of backgrounds.