Logements à surfaces d’activités partagées

In 1975, the Public Authority for Low-Rent Housing (HLM) of Poitiers decided to put an end the prevailing dullness of social housing architecture. The challenge, however, is to go even further by reinterpreting the human-scale dimension.
To this end, this project of 274 experimental housing units, proposes apartments with shared activity areas. The human-scale dimension of the design focuses on a community-type dwelling structure based on friendly neighbourly relations within private and shared spaces.

Residents thus become the main players in the way premises are divided and used. They are exposed to the benefits of living architecture, taking over the initiative of allocation and use of semi-private spaces that are added to the residential units. These additional rooms may be used by four to six households, providing both meeting places and privacy areas. The challenges of such a unique structure involve an improved soundproofing solution that meets the requirements of flexible uses, smooth transitions between private life and neighbourhood activities and enjoyment of fully public spaces, shared by all the generations and open to the city. Such dwellings are the frontrunners of ideas reflected in the most ground-breaking projects of the 21st Century.