Hamonic + Masson

62 flats . Villiot-Rapée LOT6 . Paris

gracias a Hamonic + Masson  . photos: © Delangle . © Grazia . © Hamonic +Masson

A couple of stone’s throws away from the Gare de Lyon in Paris, whose business district was designed in the 1960s and 1970s by the architect Louis Arretche, lies the Villiot-Rappée block, which is directly connected to the Seine and predominantly residential. Over the last 10 years it has been the subject of a programme of demolition and reconstruction orchestrated by Paris-Habitat OPH. Hamonic + Masson’s project is tucked away in the middle of this block and invisible from rue Villiot apart from through an entrance pierced through the built-up façade of seven-storey blocks of flats. It is hidden from rue Van Gogh by gigantic screens of offices and can only be glimpsed from Quai de la Rapée through the occasional break in the row of recent housing developments.
The buildings on the fringes of the plot rise densely into the sky. The plot is an enclave, with all the advantages that such a position affords: supposed protection from the hubbub of the city, very few cars, the homely character of a site in a clearing, as well as the ground-level space around the plot which opens it up to the sky and floods it with light.

above images by © Delangle

above images by © Grazia

above images by © Hamonic +Masson

A breath of fresh air
The project embraces new concepts of living together primarily based on generous outdoor spaces, both private (balconies) and communal (floor area), as well as on an extrapolation of the advantages of detached houses, which have now disappeared forever from Paris – having one’s own floor space and thus being rooted in the soil.

The starting point of the project, the ground, accompanies and moulds itself to the natural level, twists and transforms itself, hosts different disciplines, guides and accompanies residents, visitors and passers-by - and makes it into a home.

Each level and each flat has a different floor lending itself to different practices and uses. Rather than being like a balcony, a loggia (or a terrace), which can be seen and used on a daily basis, winds its way around the outside of the flats and gives residents the feeling that they live outdoors. This “poured garden” creates close ties to the building’s external environment.

Two hybrids
The project involves two blocks of flats, one of 11 storeys above the ground floor and the other of 8 storeys above ground floor. They stand out not only because of their height but also because of their movement, one being a hybrid of the other and their proximity creating the impression of shifting morphology. They are connected by their moving relationship to the ground.

Eyes Wide Shut

Villiot-Rapée LOT6
Paris, 12th arrondissement – 19 rue Villiot
Program
62 council flats
Client
Paris Habitat OPH

Project management team
Architects: Hamonic + Masson (Gaëlle Hamonic + Jean-Christophe Masson)
Project manager: Marie-Agnès de Bailliencourt
Bet tce + economist: SIBAT
Green building adviser: Franck Boutté
Contractors:
General building contractor: Capaldi
Timetable:
Competition winners: 2007
PC: December 2007
Duration of building work: 22 months
Completion: July 2011
Surface area:
Gross floor area: 5,120 m2
Net floor area: 4,002 m2
Typology
Lot 6A – 24 flats (3 1-room+ 8 2-room+ 13 3-room)
Lot 6B – 38 flats (6 1-room + 1 2-room + 10 3-room + 17 4-room + 2 5-room + 2 6-room)
Cost
€8.3 million excl. taxes
including ULS: €159,000 and photovoltaic solar energy: €269,000