Construction of 93 multifamily housing units

These ninety-three multifamily housing units are combined in a set of five buildings built around a large communal garden. 

Compact volumes – The entire housing project is located on a block in Lille, in the Bois Blanc neighborhood, on the edge of an industrial zone used for textile and metallurgical industries. The project, divided into five plots raised up in terms of volume, spreads out in a checkerboard fashion with an interplay of filled and empty spaces.

Its volumetric compactness creates optimal environmental quality: the plots are assembled so as to offer five south-facing façades. This decomposition of volumes also promises a gentle transition between the scale of houses and the industrial buildings. The transition in scale unfurls naturally between that of the neighborhood and of future projects planned for this zone. 

White wood façades – The façades are covered in an extra-smooth coating in shades of blue. De-tached from the bulk of the housing units, strips of white wood mark the contours of the balconies and offer an interplay of light, creating vibrations that enliven the façade. Freed from the bulk of the base structure, the balconies undulate differently from one level to the other, creating horizontal layers. They are generously sized, and, through the alternating filled and empty spaces provided by the wooden latticework, they provide a distinct scale to the façade. 

A white-tree garden – The project is built around an open, truly large communal garden that is densely planted with birch, willow, and white poplar trees that once bordered the Deûle and appar-ently gave the Bois Blanc neighborhood its name.