STUDENT HOUSING IN CLERMONT-FERRAND

Project description

Through participating in the international competition ”Europan 2001“ the city was able to compile many ideas for developing a run-down part of the town between the centre and the peripheral area. The winning project proposed a series of high-rise buildings and town houses on several isolated and undeveloped sites in the area. In a further competition the architects chosen to implement the architecture were those who had realised the concept for the high-rise buildings, known as ”totems“. The buildings, each of which stands in its own urban block, are marked by towers that rise at the corners and show that they are related to each other through a uniform design that uses anthracite coloured fibre cement panels which are to be understood as a reference to the volcanic rock of the nearby world cultural heritage site ”Chain de Puys“. Concealed behind are facade elements, some in red, others in orange which are used in the design of the sheltered terraces and outdoor spaces. Externally, the panels of fibre cement together with flush-mounted shutters create homogeneous, coherent volumes. Numerous outdoor spaces such as terraces and pergolas form a buffer zone between the student apartments and the space outside, and in daily life produce a building that makes a lively impression. Embedded in an upgraded urban space in which cars are no longer allowed and a large urban square was made, urban blocks that were once closed could be opened and made accessible for all the residents of this urban district. This highly contemporary and sustainable urban concept is focussed in every way, down to the architecture, on the needs of pedestrians and cyclists

By choosing panels of suitable dimensions and shapes the homogeneous, almost smooth fibre cement panels of the facades harmonise well with the appearance of this part of the city, while thanks to the recessed ground floor the building is still registered as an independent entity. The fibre cement panels of different widths give the long building a structure, which is interrupted or continued by the shutters, depending on whether they are open or closed.

Anthracite coloured fibre cement panels are combined with metal elements in the same colour to produce a uniform and yet lively facade that, depending on the way the residents use it, can make either an open or closed impression. The new buildings respect the street line, fill a gap in the street space, and place an accent and a signal that aids orientation on the site.

Published in A+D 54, Autumn 2020