106 Student housing

How can one convert an office building into student housing? How can one give a strong identity and unifying theme to an extant building with a common appearance? Our focus was to try to integrate a system of habitation consisting of studios conforming to the constraints of the pre-existing spaces, with a surprisingly high quality and subtlety. Divested of its old façade, the existing office building is purified leaving two distinct volumes apparent, composed of thin floors and columns. A visual crossing of the building from one side to the other creates a relationship between the urban space, the center of the block, and the courtyard of the neighboring school campus. The project inserts itself into the existing framework of columns using modules of elongated studios. The studios consist of a living room with a kitchenette and a bathroom. Thinking about how students could appropriate the space was a central theme in the conception process, so that this unusual building would become a place of conviviality, and for collective living. With regard to the extant building, bringing the exterior circulation onto the structure in the form of access balconies permits us to optimize the constructed surface: no central circulation adds to the overall surface, and the existing floors are dedicated solely to the studios. These balconies serve at the same time as access pathways and as exterior space for the studios. They are the natural continuation of the living spaces. Because each studio is a crafted module within the established structural framework, the linear façade is easily rendered in a worthwhile way.