The operation is located in the future river eco-district of Île-Saint-Denis, in place of the Warehouse site, in a territory in full development with the Cluster of Creation.
This project is the result of a competition launched in 2007 by the owner Brémond in partnership with ING Real Estate, for the creation of an exemplary neighborhood on the Ile Saint-Denis, whom we had won in partnership with Dutch planners West 8 and other architectural agencies. The private developer subsequently sold the CAZ development to a public developer, Plaine Commune Habitat. The aborted urban project gave way a few years later to a project management mission, which was proposed to us in collaboration with the design architects ECDM and Thibaud Babled architects, already present at the first competition.
Each of us had to deal with part of a block of 150 units. This work on the adjoining, led us to work on the conviviality between the teams in cooperation, thus inducing architectures that agree: same treatment of the ground floor, alignment of certain elements of the composition, variation in agreement of materials and volumes. Simple choices that by exchange co-construct the architecture with some evidence.
On the ground floor, two private courtyards cross the island and allow the service of workshops, visual and functional permeability between the dock and the Allée des Arts. Arranged on the street, the quays and in the heart of islets, workshops and shops open wide on the public space. The repetitive design of the wood joinery and large glazings mark the unity of the base of the street level.
In the center of the plot, a patio complete the outdoor spaces. The patio will bring a vegetal atmosphere to the heart of the island, and will be completed by the roofs planted workshops (Workshop in the case of PA3). The open ground spaces represent: 14% of the surface of the plot or 223m², they will be vegetated: lawn, ground cover (grass-flowers), shrub hedges.
At the level of the floors is more expressed the singularity of each lot with varied used materials even if they easily agree together among others through the use of wood. In order to break the linearity of the facades, the built volume is cut according to rhythms based on the alternation between faults and balconies.
The part we treated is on the edge of the Seine and close to the future shopping square, structuring for the new district. The design of the facades was guided by the desire to offer all the houses a good exposure, a double orientation and panoramic views of the Seine.
Offering a diversity ranging from T1 to T5, the accommodations are organized in L around the patio and passages, and they all have views of the Seine. The low thickness of the volume offers great porosity as well as passing accommodation with south-east oriented stays. While the rooms will be oriented towards the heart of a quiet island.
The balconies clearly materialize these choices: ample, generous, welcoming and protective, they are the opportunity of a specific locksmith work that becomes the signature of the architecture. The perforated metal of the fillings filters the views and makes an elegant shadow set on the raw concrete of the facade.
