Ten apartments in France

A white wooden building in Saint-Denis, conceived by JTB. architecture, offers a variety of housing typology and joins the different heights of the two adjacent residences with an undulating profile.

JTB: architecture, Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France. Photo © Luc Boegly
The Ten social rented housing, built in Saint-Denis and designed by JTB. architecture is part of the National Plan Redevelopment of Former District Gradients (PNRQAD).
The narrow land on which the project will intrude is caught between two buildings of existing housing. For the sake of courtesy integration vis-à-vis neighboring buildings, the project gutter line just to hang on to those of the two buildings that adjoin. Their different altimetry results in the weakening of the horizontal line on the street front.
JTB. architecture, Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France
JTB. architecture, Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France. Top: Photo © Luc Boegly. Above: Photo © Cyrille Lallement

Because the project is part of a claimed environmental approach but also because the small size of the plot and its difficult access urged him, the architects of JTB. architecture proposed a structural scheme adapted to these criteria.

The building thus consists of a base in reinforced concrete and masonry, on which the five floors and roof panels made entirely of wooden cross-laminated KLH.

This structural choice has many advantages: it minimizes the constraints of site facilities (no fixed crane); it allows the assembly of structural work in record time (only nine days to build the six upper levels); it guarantees a clean site and low pollution; it facilitates the formation of a thermally efficient envelope; participates in the fight against climate change by storing CO2.
JTB. architecture, Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France.
JTB. architecture, Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France. Photo © Luc Boegly

In France, the construction of high multi-family wooden structures is still counted on the fingers of one hand.

The composition of the staircases and wooden elevators are unprecedented for this type of program. Despite its small size, the project offers a variety of housing typology, from T1 to T5, all through and offering a private outdoor space for everyone. The building envelope is completely isolated from the outside and coated with a white lacquered metal skin.


Ten social rented apartments, Saint-Denis, France
Program: social housing
Architects: JTB. architecture
Project manager: Siham Laadjal
Engineering: Egsc, Arpente
Manufacturers/Suppliers:  Klh / Lignatec, Arval Arcelor-Mittal
Area: 926 sqm
Completion: 2015

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