Manuelle Gautrand

This set of home units in the west of Paris stands on a block that offers fine views without face-offs. We wanted to make the most of the exceptional location to design a building open to the exterior. From level one to the top floor, wide terraces give each apartment a broad running outdoor complement. The composition ascends in successive volumes, each level adding external areas that run on into shared parts.

At ground level, the concept takes advantage of a constraint in urban regulations that stipulated the need for a spacious pedestrian passage running from the street to the park, since one of the open flights of stairs gives on to this passage. The itinerary from public space to apartment is thus all external, residents negotiate stairs and footbridge landings to get to their front doors. This creates the impression of living in a free-standing house, surrounded by approach terraces.

To play up the project’s exceptional location at the entrance to a city park, façades are printed with a stylized leaf motif that remains discreet while adding a precious note. This pattern runs over most of the elevations, in some places irregularly, and suggests the movement of a climbing plant.