La Canopée ("forest canopy") complex appeared in the city of Bayonne in the south-west of France. The hot climate of the region, where people are accustomed to spending as much time outdoors as indoors, influenced the project, as did its location in the forest: buildings with 50 housing units, including 38 apartments and 12 detached houses, are carefully placed between the trees.
The southern facades of the houses are equipped with spacious loggias (12 m2), which are connected to the interior with a panoramic window 6 m wide. They are protected from the sun by awnings and screens, as well as plants planted in boxes on the balustrade. All dwellings face the north and south facades at the same time, which provides through ventilation.
The houses are raised above the ground on supports: parking lots, service areas and lawns are located under them. The dwellings are connected to each other by bridges, and their "entrance areas" serve no more than 2 houses at the same time: this, along with a well-thought-out orientation of the windows, provides residents with privacy. However, even the owners of individual houses have to use the same vertical circulation nodes: the architect wanted the experience of life in La Canopée to be the same for everyone.
The main materials used are wood, steel and concrete, and mainly standard, prefabricated elements are used, which reduced the cost of construction. The complex is designed on a modular grid with a cell side of 1.03 m, including frame details, balustrade, facade cladding, windows, sun screens and so on.
