190 Logements | France
13 december 2022
Project: 190 Logements, Bobigny | France
Architect: Groupe Arcane Architectes mandataire, Paris | France
Fabricator: ACODI, Torvilliers | France
Façade System: Tray Panels on bolts + Riveted/Screwed
Year of Construction: 2021
Product: ALUCOBOND® A2 sparkling Ivory Silver + Bronze Metallic
Photos: Nicolas Borel
THE RIGHT RHYTHM
At Arcane, a group of French architects, it is a question of challenging expectations. The architects were commissioned to redevelop an ensemble consisting of three blocks of flats and a long oblong eight-floor building. In particular, the oblong building typifies the stigma attached to the Parisian “banlieue”. The large slab-like, concrete 1970s building with its monotonous appearance and its dirty balconies symbolised the neglect many people in this neighbourhood have suffered and the precarious nature of their lives. The refurbishment, therefore, was not only a matter of repairing the concrete and adding up-to-date insulation to the buildings. The intention was to upgrade the social housing with an image-enhancing façade design and, in so doing, show greater respect for the residents. The architects attached great importance to devising new façades which complemented each other yet were not identical, and which did not reinforce clichés by being too striking or garish. The group of architects chose understated, dirt-resistant ALUCOBOND® tray panels, which produce a warm, light-reflecting surface. To scale down the immense oblong building to human dimensions, the architects lined up a sequence of two different façade designs. One version frames the window bands: clad in narrow Ivory Silver ALUCOBOND® tray panels, this pattern forms a rather static entity. In between, slanted bands of ALUCOBOND® flow down the façade, where the balconies, like small bronze-coloured stones, swirl in the falling waterfall. The balcony parapets are also made of ALUCOBOND®, in this case, bronze metallic. They are perforated to create partial transparency, offer a better view and improve ventilation in the living spaces. The slanting façade surfaces do not only prevent pigeons from nesting. Slanting upwards or downwards, they also reflect daylight, sometimes more, sometimes less, creating vivid points of light and shadow on the façade. Over the oblong’s enormous expanse, the recurrence of individual sequences creates a wholly coherent rhythm, not overly monotonous, nor too inconsistent. And so, thanks to the façade alone, the architects managed to scale down the oversized building to acceptable, earthly proportions without having to resort to deconstruction or demolition.