071 . TWIN HOUSES

The project consists of the construction of two symmetrical dwellings in plan, of identical layout and composition, of which only a few facade details vary. The houses are characterized by a semi-covered entrance, open on side patios planted and largely glazed on the house.
 
The direct environment of the project consists of individual houses, whose morphology and heights are varied. Located in Pessac, this sequence does not have a very established character, the setbacks, materials, colors and textures differ from one house to another.
 
Our choice was to build the facade seven meters from the street limit, which frees the space for parking spaces required by the urban planning bylaw. Only two technical walls, where mailboxes, energy supplier boxes, and garbage shelters stand, mark the boundary between public and private space.
 
This distance from the street allows us a staging of the volume built. Voluntarily unbalanced by moving the two holes in front, we play with the depth of the patios. Thus each house is different from its twin by the orientation and the view from this garden space.
 
All the masonry parts of the building are covered with a light gray coating, looking for the rotundity in the volume that this mono-material contributes. The architecture of this construction is discreet and sober, but very generous in light and comfort. The large windows in the living room amplify its volume towards the outside, and multiply the looks of its occupants. Two twin houses that can be understood as one that, as well as a human face, never has perfect symmetry.