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Collective Housing Award
The 27 housing units, including four townhouses, are built into the hillside and nestle into the slope, below the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church, built in the 19th century on a promontory. Halfway between urban intervention and architecture, the project transformed the site of a former school, of which only the retaining walls remain, into an inhabited base. The location of the one- to three-story buildings, erected on a strip of land, effectively exploits the slope, reduces the visual impact of the building and offers multiple openings onto the landscape.
The complex, located at the immediate foot of the church, is accessed via a private pedestrian walkway for public use. Built at the bottom of the church's retaining wall, this path gives pedestrians a central place. The architecture is distinguished by the use of smooth, raw concrete, poured on site. The beige concrete, tinted in the mass of the housing units, harmoniously complements the colors of the neighboring church. The unique 2,40 meter grid (corresponding to a formwork panel) serves as a unit of measurement for the entire project, structures the facades and underlines the rigor of the plan. All the housing units, studios, 2, 3 or 4 room apartments, have a large loggia. The majority of them are dual-aspect or tri-oriented, while the duplex townhouses each benefit from an individual garden.
Jury's opinion
A rigorous construction, respecting rhythms, proportions, and tones, designed to harmonize with the existing context. An urban composition that reveals the connection between two squares. The residential complex enriches the living environment thanks to its alleys, benches, planted spaces, and loggias, offering comfort to everyone. A remarkable project, capable of solving the complex equation of the collective scale while preserving the village spirit of the place in which it is located.
Project location: Les Pennes-Mirabeau (13)
Client: Logirem/Erilia
Architects: Zakarian-Navelet
Surface area: 1690 m2 sdp
Budget: €3,4 million
Delivery date: PC October 2024, DET in progress
