Stacked up living

Instead of constructing a traditional terraced house, the architects stacked six different typological layouts in a block adjacent to the street. The volumes are displaced horizontally with respect to one another and are crowned with a roof terrace. The result is a dynamic facade made up of interlocking volumes that the mind cannot absorb in just a single glance. The original idea of creating a vertical facade of greenery was quickly abandoned. Instead, the architects took photographs of the crown of a tree, which they then translated into suitable materials. The photo was blown up until the individual pixels could be seen. Exactly the same arrangement of pixels was then turned into a wall cladding by applying the pattern in three shades of green to glazed clay roof tiles. The architects‘ preference was for clay tiles because they wanted to use a material as a way of introducing a suburban element into the dense city centre context. The bark-like structure of the ground floor plinth, which is finished with brown facing bricks, extends the tree metaphor.

The view of the city is provided by square window openings framed with coated aluminium, with the actual window being recessed. The positioning of each of these openings has been carefully considered, so that they act as frames for particular elements of the cityscape: a church tower perhaps, or an architecturally especially attractive building.

The landscape as a uniting urban element.

The entire building project stands in the context of the continuity of the landscape. There is good reason for having the feeling of being in a public square when walking past the two residential complexes aligned towards the town. The vegetation plays an important role as a link, as a central thread between public and private space, and identifies semi-public areas, in which community and exchange are practised.

As if drawn by the hand of a child.

“We started by focussing on the cubage of the building and the openings and then on the selection of the right material, which would go with the vegetation. The choice fell on the roof tile Tempest (Tempête) 44, which was used as the basis for planning this project,” explains architect Bruno Palisson. “Each house has a very simple expression, as if inspired by a child’s drawing. We therefore opted for this roof tile in the colour Wine Red Glazed, both for the facade and the two roof pitches. It acts as protective armour for the construction and runs like a thread from house to house. Another advantage of this roof tile is that the material is very expressive and has a high utility value, due to its ability to enter into dialogue with nature and the surrounding landscape. The colour Wine Red Glazed itself represents a departure from the traditional image of clay roof tiles, which normally have a less conspicuous colour and do not shimmer as a rule. Then there is an unexpected light effect: depending on the weather, the colour changes from black to deep red, to which the glazing makes its own contribution. Surprise guaranteed!”

This flickering colour is also found in the colourful metal sliding shutters, which are integrated directly in the brickwork. All of this stands in contrast to the external envelope of wood and the pale render of the front and rear facades. This render also forms a counterpoint to the roof tile – here, it is about power,
strength and the flowing lightness of the metal.

Opening up towards the town

Following the site contour, about one half of the semi-basement was embedded in the ground, while its facade opens up this level towards the road and is thus providing a direct access to the road for the municipal employees working in the offices. This fully glazed level seems to have grown into the park. It is dedicated to welcoming the public and also provides rooms for official occasions. The upper level is reserved for in-house departments of the municipal authorities. The solid facade, which is clad with light plain tiles, offers more secluded areas, and a large terrace with a glass balustrade faces towards the park.

Attractive mixture

The entire building is designed as a mixed construction of solid concrete components and a timber framework. In combination with glass and shimmering light-grey plain tiles, which due to their thin glaze reflect a variety of shades, the result is an extremely modern and high-contrast material effect. The selection of the tile was guided by considerations of the traditional building technique from the South Loire Valley, where plain tiles are still frequently used. Beyond the elegant visual effect, the building with an effective floor area of 1,500 square metres also meets low-energy building standards.