F
ollowing on an initial housing project
on the same site, this latest project
continues the idea of varying housing
types: town houses, stacked dwellings
and congregate housing, all of which
comes together on three visual levels
with unified metallic casing that
magnifies Le Havre’s maritime light.
Very near the Bains des Docks,
designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel, the terrain is
located in Le Havre’s port area across from the
Vatine wet docks. To give the architects direction,
architect/town-planner, Bruno Fortier, developed a
dialectic between ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ while the project
specifications maintained certain historical notes that
hallmarked the past and kept it from becoming just
another modern commercial development.
Four years after initial work done on this venue by
the agency, the watchword remained the same, i.e.
bring out the local industrial past by accenting its
rough material aspects through the use of concrete
and metal. A small corner building has been
preserved on this site, making it a reference to the
past while still part of a very modern design project.
But the real booster of the project is its seascape
views and the commercial port. The project had to
rise. Overlying a high water table, the agency had
to put parking garages, businesses and community
areas at ground level on a concrete pedestal that
automatically lifted the project into the air. This base
weds the shape of the preserved corner building.
So as not to bury this historical landmark with
dominating surroundings, the encircling building
heights were lowered and harmonized with its shape.
The base then extends gently upwards to raised
gardens.
The program encompasses several formats: from
studios to 5-room flats, from town houses to small
congregate housing with many permutations inbetween. The whole is unified by winding pathways
in the central garden that enhance conviviality among
residents. Both streets are highlighted by six-storey
congregate housing buildings. On the dock side there
is a low-lying path connecting the existing building
to the intermediary housing and two residential
floors accessed by passageways. The garden is ringed
by town houses. The housing is accessed in several
ways: elevators and stairways from the street or the
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different parking garage levels and hallways and
verandas to welcome residents to the intermediary
housing. This diversity of access and the varying
scales lend the project its highly urbanized style.
The compact plots of the congregate housing are
based on a simple principle, i.e. two small units
around a central core are framed by two bigger
units (3 or 5 rooms) gable-fashion. The biggest
units run from right to left and vice-versa every two
storeys, creating a staggered, three-layered, stacked
facade that affords maximum views. Starting
with the three-room units, each enjoys a terrace
or a recessed balcony, with the 4- and 5-room
units having two. The unit interiors are organized
simply with day living spaces (living room, dining
room) and night space (bedrooms) surrounding
the technical area that includes kitchens and
bathrooms.
The project’s volume mass and simplicity contrast
with the envelope’s lightness, which is especially
sophisticated given the program it encompasses.
The outside insulation over the bare concrete is
protected by a first sound- and water-proof skin to
which the metallic cladding is attached. This called
for very precise layout and implementation. The
regular perforation pattern is repeated identically
on all facades. The recessed balconies can be hidden
by sliding trellises – a permutation of the bedroom
shutters – that disappear behind the cladding. From
ArchitectS: Philippe Dubus
Architecte
PROJECT: Le Havre Quartier
Saint Nicolas De L’eure
Location: Le Havre, France
size: 4 745m2
YEAR: 2013
CONTRACT VALUE: €6.7
million
PHOTOGRAPHS: Sergio Grazia
i