Photographs: MC Lucat
T
Social Housing in Aigues-Mortes
Thomas Landemaine Architectes
he project of collective
housing in Aigues-Mortes
has been developed within an
exceptional site, living witness of the
70s. The building is located in a factory
estate whose architecture is marked
by a modern style. The plot occupies
a key spot; the work has to manage
the transition from a scale to another,
between 3-storey housings and individual
houses the latter being scattered at the
rear of the plot, on the property line.
dimension to the project. Although it is
integrated in its context, it was important
to give it a punch image, an identity.
Consequently, architects chose to use
wooden materials to unify the project.
First, this material covers well and
second it creates small subspaces, more
secret universes. Being like little huts,
the loggias create intimate outdoor
spaces where it is pleasant to live.
In order to compose with existing pieces,
the TLA team has chosen to integrate
and reinterpret some of the on-site
architectural elements to the building
aesthetic.
The wood emphasizes a feeling of
warmth and of interiority but mostly
permits one to manage opacities and
transparences, and acts as a filter. Thus,
“looking without being seen” becomes
possible!
As a result, the treatment of edging
strips has been carefully thought and
comes marking the floors to give a local
Finally, marking the corners appeared as
a way to reinforce the project geometry
and to delimit distinctly two entities.
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The upper part, with fifteen apartments
in double exposure, is covered of wood
and punctuated of small appropriable
volumes. The composition is sitting
on a mineral base. Here, the addition
of gabion baskets comes to strengthen
the dichotomy feeling between the two
elements. On the ground floor two public
spaces nestle: a tax center and a police
station.
The main difficulty on this project were
to conciliate cost, comfort, aesthetic,
social and environmental issues. But this
skin has not yet said its last word! Then,
it takes a functional role and becomes
a sunscreen. Playing with rhythms and
exposures, it protects and receives light!
Faithful to itself, this skin shapes and
modulates the facade.
www.landemaine.com