Student Residences and Accommodation

The project is located within the ZAC Parc d’Affaires, on the east side of Asnières-sur-Seine. The site is now undergoing its transformation through the creation of a rich and diversified urban fabric (offices, shops, residences) and its connection to Grand Paris via the Grésillons station (RER C). The B4 property complex includes 62 housing units and a student residence with 273 rooms located in two separate buildings. This arrangement, in addition to the autonomy which it provides for each entity, offers a more favorable east-west orientation for housing. Each building consists of a ground floor topped by nine levels. The buildings maintain geometric and altimetric correspondences that connect them and the dialogue is reinforced by the use of similar materials. Each entity however expresses its functional specificity as closely as possible and develops its own identity. The building with the 62 residences offers a horizontal stratification through the game of the balconies’ volumes. The other building is more monolithic and is made of a concrete frame which extends the building system on to the façade highlighting the different types of rooms.

The client aimed to integrate the two buildings into an environmental approach encompassing the following certifications and labels: •The “NF Habitat HQETM” certification, according to the Application Standard NF 500 10 V2.2 for housing and NF 500 11 V2.2 for the student residence (effective from 01/05/2017), with an “Excellent” 3-star classification for owner-occupied dwellings and a “Highly Efficient” classification for social housing and the student residence; •The “Effinergie+” High Energy Performance label, both for the housing units and the student residence. Within the context of the area, the project’s environmental ambition went beyond simply achieving conventional environmental certifications for housing and office buildings, responding dialectically to the site constraints and stakeholders’ expectations, while also expressing a commitment to innovation demonstrated through collaboration with various partners.

The two buildings reached the HQE: PROFIL NF HABITAT HQE level "EXCELLENT" (french labelization). The structure of the 2 building, is made in reinforced concrete structure. The refined materiality and the modular or generic façade system offer an architectural language that is at once calm, “silent,” and iconic, thanks to its repetition and volumetric modulations on a larger scale. The design principles implemented across the buildings (vertical independence, a unified structural grid, façades with subtle variations allowing for a high degree of spatial flexibility) are fully compatible with the project. Thus, future modifications of use, or even changes in building function, can easily be envisioned. Finally, the base plays with its brightness through a ceramic cladding that highlights the ground floor. The “Snake” ceramic—reflective and evanescent—merges with the landscape and contributes to the animation of the urban frontage.