A poetic and serene universe. Sceaux Student residence by CoBe Architecture et Paysage

Description of project by CoBe Architecture et Paysage

The project brings together two different programs, a structure composed of 2 nurseries of 40 cradles each and a residence of 110 student housing units. The whole gives a clear and respectful architectural figure of the site, which articulates the 3 sequences of public spaces that are the forecourt of the Sceaux station, the western portion of the Albert 1er street and the footbridge.

Location

On the ground floor, the nursery structure is making part of the natural slope of the land. An enclosed garden dedicated to children borders the site on its southern fringe. This program is topped by the student residence. It is split into several volumes that mimics individual houses. This system harmoniously places the operation in the residential environment of the site. The gaps between each house, which host gardens, are all breakthroughs that preserve the sunshine of the Albert 1er street.

This new object shapes a friendly, open, and bright environment. Its diversity seeks to bring a new dynamic to this new centrality of the district.

A Base

The building plays with the natural landforms of the site.  On the ground floor of Albert 1er street, the façade of the multi-reception structure offers a public program understandable from the street.

This specific program is autonomously living in the urban block. It gradually slips into the existing slope to give way to the entrance hall and the common areas of the student residence. This part is at the same level compared to the public space that rises about 3 meters between the high point and the low point of the site. 

The use of the topography of the site makes it possible to reach up the main entrances of the nursery and the student residence on two adjoining public spaces, respectively the Rue Albert 1er and the forecourt of access to the RER station.
The base is rhythmed by a unified wood frame façade on the ground floor, with wooden sections generating a soothed relationship to the street and accompanying the steps of the pedestrians. This enhances the visibility, from the public space, of the two programs in an integrated way.

Houses

The orientation of the volumes that are unfolding on the common base, varies according to the urban context. Their fragmentation generates in-between.

The double slope of the zinc gable roofs on the wooden frame of the dwellings absorbs the color of the sky at the heart of the project. The use of white concrete bricks made echoes the materiality released by brick and stone houses of the neighborhood. The wood of the framework echoes the "garden city" of Sceaux and warms the public space in harmony with the red asphalt in the street.
In order to allow a simplified reading of the façade as well as an economy of openings, the windows of the student rooms are grouped two by two, the rooms being arranged most often in pairs in a symmetrical way. These are framed by aluminum joinery on zinc facades, and wooden frames on brick facades.

The fragmented and residential aspect of the whole is reinforced while offering visual breakthroughs that preserve the views towards the large landscape of the existing houses. The attention paid to the urban landscape is also expressed through the planted terraces that take place between the houses. Overlooking the railway, they are a vegetal barrier visible from the tracks.

Housing

In its housing part, the project seeks to offer individual and collective living qualities, as well as variable and adaptable living and comfort spaces.

The organization of housing units has been designed in order to facilitate the distribution of spaces with a horizontal inner street connected to staircases. The common spaces are grafted to the "inner street" which dialogues directly with the street.
Access to the 5 houses is through the common hall where the reception is located. The hall and the bike room are directly connected to the street and the square created in front of the entrance of the RER station. The student rooms are oriented either to the South towards the railway hillside, or to the North with a view towards the surrounding landscape. The simple accommodations have a kitchen area integrated into the entrance to offer a more comfortable and adjustable living room. Seven duplexes are taking place in the attics and create a variation on the façade, thanks to a double height in the living rooms.

Nurseries

In its nursery part, the project offers comfort and security to the staff, children and their parents, whether in the vicinity of the two nurseries, inside or outside in the private garden, by favoring a more functional one-storey configuration.

The space of the two nurseries has been "dilated" from the inside to recreate a poetic, serene and fluid universe. The two entities of 44 cradles each are placed on the ground floor only and are clearly accessible from the Albert 1er Street. They are accessible from a generous hall that directs on both sides of the common spaces to the inner street that connects all the premises. A curtain wall made of wood and aluminum encloses the central building.