59 dwellings

Made almost entirely of prefabricated elements, the residential complex signed by Lacaton&Vassal in Mulhouse, France, has a markedly industrial look and big, flexible interiors, easily customizable by each of the 59 inhabitants.

The project is located between Bulher street and Neppert street in Mulhouse, Neppert gardens ZAC (joint development zone).

It includes 59 social rental dwellings developped by SOMCO, with an approach in the continuity of Cité Manifeste’s dwellings project.

The aims of the project are first defined in terms of quality of living: creating dwellings surfaces bigger than the standards; offering additionnal and intermediate spaces, with different characteristics than traditional rooms in an individual house, that widen the uses, the diversity of spaces and the climatic possibilities; bringing the collective housing closer to an individual house, developing principles such as outdoor spaces that extend the indoor rooms; optimizing the number of dwellings compare to the plot capacity, in order to develop a project economy to encourage the creation of the largest possible surfaces.

Some of the dwellings are duplex apartments. The flats, from T1 to T5, are running through. The living rooms, south-east oriented, are open on to an unoverlooked terrace, that can be fully closed in winter. These wintergardens, widely opened in summer, encourage a bioclimatic system by avoiding overheating problems with a natural ventilation, and create a buffer space in winter.

The construction is performing in terms of energy saving. The constructive system is mostly composed by industrialized elements. The project’s conception satisfies the requirements regarding the respect for the environment, the energy saving, and fits to the sustainable development philosophy, including the inhabitants quality of living as a main criteria.