This housing project in the Versailles-Chantiers district is part of a restructuring operation on 3.5 hectares adjacent to a train station. Intended for different types of public, this 21,400 m² complex includes 376 housing units divided into housing for accession to ownership, social housing, a seniors’ residence and a student residence, artists’ studios and a daycare center. The city’s urban regulations imposed specific building dimensions and the use of traditional façade materials. In keeping with these principles, the themes that guided Elizabeth de Portzamparc are the relationship between contemporary architecture and heritage, the link with nature and landscape, and the generational and social mix.
Brick and zinc are used in all four buildings. The façades are clad in pink grey brick, punctuated by vertical windows and rounded corners. Dancing balconies lighten the imposing mass of the buildings and the relative austerity of the brick. The program and the typology of the dwellings according to the profile of the inhabitants offer a real social and generational mix. The architect has thought the garden as an opportunity for cohabitation and exchange between these different populations. In the same state of mind, she has succeeded in creating a vast coworking space on the north first floor that will promote social exchanges between neighbors.
Nature is very present with the large garden of flowers and trees in the heart of the island, the green terraces, the terraced garden shared by the senior housing units and the green roof terraces. The entire building is softened by all this greenery.
Commission 2012
ARCHITECT: Elizabeth de Portzamparc
CLIENT: City of Versailles
PROGRAM: construction of 376 housing units with landscaped gardens, a daycare center, and parking near the Versailles-Chantiers train station. Housing for first-time buyers and low-income residents, daycare center, student housing and senior housing
AREA:
11,141 m² of private housing (175 market-rate units)
2,135 m² of public housing (33 units)
1,614 m² of student housing (68 units)
6,204 m² of senior housing (100 units)
330 m² of daycare center
7,172 m² of underground parking
TOTAL: 21,424 m² (gross floor area)