Built on a small suburban site the project is a reasoned reply to the increasingly complicated constraints of planning law compounded by the classification of the area as a flood zone. The typically heterogenous nature of French suburbs allows for a unique choice of materials and composition for the street facade.The volume is a simple rectangular box stretching between the site boundaries.
The ground floor
Restricted to non habitable space by the flood risk the ground floor is used as a garage and workshop. The unheated spaces allow the reinforced concrete structure to be left exposed reducing the potential for flood damage.
First and second floor
The structure for these levels is in clay blocks with a recycled glass rigid insulation and untreated larch cladding applied to the exterior. Small windows to the northeast protect the interior visually and acousticaly from the street. The house opens up to the rear with a mono pitched roof allowing natural light deep into the volume. The first floor is reconnected with the garden level via an independent steel structured external stair. The garden is landscaped to encourage infiltration of rainwater and a careful choice of planting allows for minimum maintenance.
