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Philippe Gazeau: Le Bois Habité 2

The French architect has completed 76 housing units, as part of the development of an eco-quarter in La Corrouze, a former military and industrial area.

Designed by French architect Philippe Gazeau, the recently completed 76 units of the Bois Habité [Inhabited Forest] are located at the north-east end of the La Corrouze mixed-use development zone, in Rennes. To be completed by 2020, La Corrouze is 140 hectare sustainable development project uniting the urban areas of Rennes and Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande.

The Bois Habité project offers morphological and typological diversity around a large shared garden. A "campus" concept is used to define a free layout, optimising the environmentally-friendly quality and performance of the project. Particular attention is given to the layout of the constructions with respect to their orientation, the treatment of the façades, and the urban composition with respect to the urban landscape, both in the immediate vicinity and further afield.

The taller tower block is located in the northern part of the land and, standing at the edge of the site, does not cast a shadow on the other buildings. The two highrises share a semi-underground car park and are joined together by a terrace roof forming a common plaza. The terraced houses are set on this walkway slab.

Each building offers a particular typology suited to its location, orientation and height, so as to get the best out of it in terms of housing unit comfort. The north front is the narrowest exposed surface area and the south front is the widest.

Philippe Gazeau, <em>Le Bois Habité 2</em> view from the old stadium lot — Philippe Gazeau, *Le Bois Habité 2* view from the old stadium lot

In both tower blocks the living rooms of the housing units open up broadly to the south of the development zone through loggias/terraces. These excrescences are outside extensions to the living space, protected on the sides with walls up to half-height to cut down noise, wind and sunlight. The treatment of the three other façades and the top is handled in different ways from one tower to the other, taking into account their height and site location and according to the surrounding landscape.

The North tower block is the tallest, most imposing in the distant urban landscape, in particular from the Rennes city centre. Here, the top section is different, its last two floors featuring a special volumetry: pulled back from the main body, they create a parapet walk. The tower's main body is wrapped on the north, east and west facades in a smooth, shiny mantle of vertical metallised ribbed cladding covering insulation on the outside of the building structure, in contrast with the more sculptural, mineral appearance of the south façade. On the ground floor, the tower fuselage is set on a brick base on the plaza ground or on the slightly sloping ground of the grassy areas.

Philippe Gazeau, <em>Le Bois Habité 2</em> north tower — Philippe Gazeau, *Le Bois Habité 2* north tower

The South tower block, which is lower and less slender in its proportions, has a dissymmetrical fuselage, thinner to the east on the inner garden side, broader to the west on the development area's park side. This differentiation between the east and west façades is also emphasised in the colour of the casing of vertical ribbed cladding, which wraps around and insulates the north, east and west façades. The treatment of the south façade, and the ground floor base, are the same as on the first tower block. The rake on the fuselage is continuous all the way up to the sloping ridge.

The volumetry of the six housing units at the foot of the tower blocks is similar to a typology of houses grouped in threes. They are one-story houses with sloping roofs opening widely onto the park, with an east-west exposure so that the two towers bookending them to the north and south will interfere with the view or block the sunlight.

To be completed by 2020, La Corrouze is 140 hectare sustainable development project uniting the urban areas of Rennes and Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande

Philippe Gazeau, <em>Le Bois Habité 2</em> the two towers — Philippe Gazeau, *Le Bois Habité 2* the two towers

The entire height of the south front is in surface coated concrete, its taupe colour verging on rust, likewise on the outer faces of the terraces - projecting loggias. The inner faces of the loggias are in brighter colours, greens, yellows, pinks and reds, to make these "outdoor rooms" feel like part of the home. On the top floors the solid walls on the projecting boxes are replaced by coloured glass guard rails. For the cladding covering the South tower, the colours are treated dissymetrically: dark green on the inner garden side, metal grey on the west side. The south façade is handled in the same way as the North tower.

The sloping roofs over the volume of the stairwell on both towers are fitted with solar panels.

Philippe Gazeau, <em>Le Bois Habité 2</em>, south façade with colored balconies, detail of a balcony — Philippe Gazeau, *Le Bois Habité 2*, south façade with colored balconies, detail of a balcony

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Philippe Gazeau: Le Bois Habité 2

The French architect has completed 76 housing units, as part of the development of an eco-quarter in La Corrouze, a former military and industrial area.

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