It consists of 11 six-storey sections - "houses", located close to each other and designed not in a line, but with a sequential indent. Each section contains several apartments, including duplexes, ranging from 50 to 90 m2. It is noteworthy that 21 apartments in the residential complex are rented at market prices, and 18 are provided to not too wealthy citizens under a social contract. What is so unusual about this complex?
First, the presence, albeit a small, but its own piece of land with a garden house for each family: it is assumed that residents will provide themselves with greens and fresh vegetables. Secondly, the wooden structures attached to the street facades and connected to the apartments by open passages immediately attract attention. This is something like multi-level verandas or a public walking area. By the way, the authors argue that in the architectonics of these structures the traditional arrangement of French outbuildings for agricultural purposes is played up.
Thirdly, partial glazing of roofs and "garden" facades of some buildings seems unusual. Probably, such an architectural decision is explained by the need to play a fashionable "green" theme: with continuous glazing, the front of lighting moves deeper into the building, which saves energy.
The architects chose inexpensive, economical materials for their Boréal social housing complex: profiled metal structures, recycled wood, polycarbonate of varying degrees of transparency. The total area of the Boréal complex is 3,525 m2, the area of the attached wooden verandas is 380 m2, the horticultural houses are 590 m2.
The French can only envy: unfortunately, in our country, social housing not only by architecture, but also by the level of comfort cannot yet be compared with the Nantes "farm" from Tetrarc architects.
A. B.
