Logements Gratte-Ciel, Villeurbanne

The practice is coordinating macro-lot C of the ZAC Gratte-Ciel Centre-Ville, a reinterpretation of the emblematic district built by Môrice Leroux in the 1930s. The project extends and densifies the avenue Barbusse in the perspective of the City Hall, under the direction of urban planners ANMA. The co-design was organised around workshops held over 15 months following consultation with local residents and future users. Our building, known as B2, is a mixed-use, 13-storey building with 32 BRS (bail réel solidaire) flats above two levels of shops. On the 16x26 m corner plot, the asymmetrical massing creates a wider façade on rue de Pressensé, which we propose to cut to retain a domestic scale that can be adapted to the new district. An external staircase occupies the gap, marking the entrance to the dwellings in direct reference to Leroux's historic Gratte-ciel. The floor plans are cruciform: the staircase to the north, the lifts and other shafts in the centre, in order to free up the four corners and ensure that almost all the dwellings are bi-orientated. The kitchens are always naturally lit and most of the time connected to the private outdoor space. Whenever possible, the bathrooms are also located on the front of the building, to ensure healthy ventilation, a principle dear to the hygienists of the early twentieth century.