#LANDSCAPING AND URBAN PLANNING PROJECTS
Arches Boulogne
Antonini Darmon designed 33 social housing units in a white cast-concrete building defined by arches, as part of an urban renovation project in the dismissed area of the Renault factories, outside Paris.
The project Arches Boulogne by architects Antonini Darmon is part of an urban development area that was formerly home to the monumental Renault factories. Once the factories moved away, they left a surface of 74 hectares, giving birth to a new area named Macrolot B5 that has been divided into seven smaller blocks distributed around a large urban garden: seven architects were selected to design seven different buildings in white concrete.
Located in the centre of the site, the Arches Boulogne building acts like a sculpture set on the ground, in a contemporary interpretation of the classical vocabulary of the former Renault factories. The arches used extend around the building fulfilling different functions, with the accent on accommodation. Each property enjoys a private outdoor space of long balconies which are protected by a double skin.
The width of the balconies varies according to their orientation: they are narrower to the north, thus maximizing illumination, while to the south, east and west the arches provide shading against natural overheating in summer. Despite the central location of the building within the neighbourhood, the arches provide privacy, and natural lighting is guaranteed by the multi-orientation of each house.
