Living on the riverside

The Entre Deux Rives housing project will revitalize a former industrial wasteland.

It includes 165 homes in 8 buildings ranging from 3 and 7 floors, spread over 3 small blocks. Living here means adopting an island identity, a mind-set specific to Ile-Saint-Denis.

The building, within the green neighbourhood, has been developed as a shared space, to be invested collectively. Council and private housing share the same staircases. Passages between blocks are designed to encourage meetings. Empty spaces invite residents to appropriate them; the loggia gardens can become a subject for discussions amongst neighbours. Shared spaces with wide windows and Persian blinds, and the low fences around the rolling gardens encourage openness to one another.

Along the river’s wider branch, a continuous, 7-storey front delineates the Quai du Chatelier, and three coloured plots emerge from the line of trees. On the wilder side of the river’s smaller branch, a 3 storey line of buildings adopts the scale of town houses.

Tree-lined gardens connect the various points of access for each small island and represent 50% of the surface area. These are shared spaces designed to encourage relationships between residents thanks to their low walls and patio areas which are ideal for chats and group activities.

The project is characterized by generous private outdoor spaces. It provides an additional room for 80% of homes in the form of a terrace or loggia with a minimum area of 12 sqm and a depth of at least 2 metres.

Entre Deux Rives, 7 Quai du Chatelier, 93450 L’Île-Saint-Denis
Program: 165 housing units
Architects: Philippon-Kalt
Client: Icade
Social housing: Caps
Thermal engineering consultant: Alto
Engineering consultant: Lgx
Area: 11,100 sqm
Cost: 16,5 M€ HT
Construction stages: July 2011, March 2014