Housing, NEY

Participating in the urban renewal of the Boulevard Ney and the “Porte de Clignancourt”, the new building splits into two volumes linked by a common base occupied by a nursery. This densification of an existing land plot from the 1970s makes possible to align the building with the boulevard, to hold it better and to animate it. Respectful of the modernist architecture of the existing towers next to our building, the positioning of the two blocks of 6 and 9 floors that face each other, with their successive withdrawals , manages to unlock some views for the inhabitants of the existing towers as for the new housing units; and helps the sun to enter into the nursery yard. Through a concept of sliding effects, the floors are treated as layers which refine the architectural volumetries. To the right-angled corners of the existing towers respond the rounded edges of the building, with an interplays of  materials favoring transparency and light. Geometric brick assemblies create a delicate pattern animating the design of the facades, while their corners and the railings of the terraces and loggias are made of an aerial assembly of openwork bricks. The use of solid brick dialogues with the history of the HBMs (“habitations à bon marché ») present in the neighbourhood, while assuming a very contemporary language through its white color and its molding elements.