镜像之舞·法国 Roubai· 住宅设计丨Saison Menu Architectes Urbanistes

Architect：Saison Menu Architectes Urbanistes

Location：Roubaix, France; | ;

Project Year：2015

Category：Apartments;Housing

Construction of 229 housing units for students and young workers

Le Carré Saint-Jean brings together two separate residences whose rigorous, understated composition of façades is enriched with mirrors that enliven surfaces with light and reflective effects. The whole of the existing constructions on this lot have been demolished, except for the façade on the rue Saint-Jean, which has been integrated into the architectural composition.

The city of a thousand smokestacks – The architectural treatment of the two buildings – one a Student Residence and the other a Young Workers’ Residence – rests on a structure that forms a façade-as-a-signal on the streetscape: a mirrored column rises up in the center of the lower building, echoing the scale of the neighboring buildings. These traces of smokestacks are a reminder of the city’s industrial history.

The façade of the student residence opening onto rue Jean Moulin is covered in mirror-finished stainless steel; it reveals its nature by reflecting the lively streetscape and the buildings across from it. Its composition creates a dialogue with neighboring buildings and helps to integrate this structure into its environment. The smokestack shape, visible from the perspective of rue du Havre, creates a strong symbol and a point of reference for the neighborhood.

The façade on rue Saint-Jean of the Young Workers’ Residence, over two stories, is sheltered by the wall and the façade of the revamped residence. Only the structure of the building that forms a pointed shape juts out like a “smokestack”, covered in mirror-finished stainless steel. The preserved former façades form a sort of enclosure facing rue Saint Jean. They have been reinforced, and the wall is perforated to bring more light in and allow building access.

Rigor and detailing – The composition of the façades is truly rigorous: the French windows with glass parapets and louvers are vertically aligned and linked together by horizontal beams at the level of the abutment. The clean detailing of the façade is underlined by the eaves in metal siding that conceal the jambs of the carpentry, only showing the glass. The interplay of materials used is also truly understated in its aesthetic: the buildings resemble pieces of a white ribbon whose sectioned parts reveal their mirror-like interiors.

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