Address: ZAC Seguin – lot A4 Est

Boulogne-Billancourt, France 

Programme: 156 student dwellings + parking 

The ‘Golden Cube’ student residence project is situated on the ‘A4 Est’ sector of Le Trapèze. This particular lot acts as a point of liason between the existing Boulogne and the new construction development. Here there is a strong importance surrounding the uni cation of urban density, diversity and pleasure, underscored by the incorporation of ecology and bio-diversity, in order to integrate nature into the heart of the urban environment.

Some of the fundamental principles that guided the programmation and construction of A4 Est were a coherence and harmony of buildings, limitation of vis-à-vis, construction at intermediate height to maintain a human scale and a blending of exterior and interior limits by offering loggias and exterior space.

The guiding principles of these student halls of residence were standardisation, self-regulation and a maximisation of internal space. This project, with its 156 rooms in an 8-storey building taking up almost the entire plot, is no exception to this rule. There is nonetheless a secret gar- den, as the project coordinators, Loci Anima, were keen to reintroduce some biodiversity onto the island.

Every at has an outdoor area. A 1.5-metre recess allowed us to include loggias along almost the entire façade. The building’s outline is blurred by the use of lters, water effects and ope- nings in the perforated sheets of steel. It is also dotted with birdhouses. The occupants cannot interfere with them and they require no maintenance.

We were confronted with a dense setting and the client’s demand for cost-effectiveness. Despite a compact context, offering quality of use was an imperative. Afterall, students are humans and not a product. The design process consequently revolved around this problematic: is it possible to propose a different living environment where life is the main subject ?