The 18th arrondissement of Paris has recently completed the construction of a student residence designed by the French bureau LAN Architecture. “The idea of the project was generated by the need to integrate the building into the urban fabric and create a comfortable environment for future residents of the hostel, conducive to communication and at the same time providing privacy,” the authors explain.
The building is located in the Parisian quarter of La Chapelle, at the corner of Fhilippe de Girard and Pajol streets - not far from the former railway station, which has undergone a massive restructuring and turned into a cultural and sports complex ZAC Pajol. The urban environment here is uncharacteristic for Paris - it is a heterogeneous mixture of Haussmann-era residential buildings, factories and workshops.
The hostel consists of 5 buildings, three of which, 6 floors high, face the street. They are separated by narrow passages that provide access to the courtyard - a square space of 15x15 meters. This courtyard is the heart of the project: it provides illumination and ties the buildings together. Voids of indeterminate purpose, of which there are many in the project, according to the authors' plan, should serve as a buffer between private and public space and encourage communication: students themselves have to figure out how to use them. The height of the inner buildings varies depending on the height of the neighboring buildings.
The idea of contrasting the street and the courtyard was expressed in the choice of material for finishing the facades. The outer walls are clad in dark bluish gray bricks. The facades facing the courtyard are finished with larch planks, the windows and balconies have wooden folding shutters.
The hostel has 150 furnished rooms with an area of about 18 m2, with a bathroom and a kitchen. 10 rooms are designed for people with disabilities. The wall material is concrete and a 12 cm layer of mineral wool as thermal insulation.
A. G.
