Studen Apartmen, Paris

Competition win means Parisian students spoilt with swish halls of residence
Ofis arhitekti of Slovenia have won an invited competition to design a new 180 studio student residence in Paris’s 19th district Stade de Ladoumègue complex. Part of an urban development designed by France’s own Reichen & Robert architects, the halls are due for completion in 2011 before the tram system is due to include that sector in 2012. Designed with an ambition of minimal power consumption, the building will include sustainable features whilst creating a secure and quality environment of which most students are not accustomed to.

It was important to Ofis to allow the residence to not just interact with its environment but to integrate a piece of street, a facade composed of buildings and landscape. The residence follows the urban plot of two concrete blocks divided by a sharing landscape garden. The overall building rises to 29.2 m. Both parts are organized according to a simple and functional frame for a logical and economic optimization. On ground floor are the lobby, the rooms, common areas opened over the course and some studios (accessible for the disabled). Upstairs are all studios and a terrace. The plans are organized according to simple management and maintainance. Also the task was to provide students environment of indoor and outdoor quality with creating the meeting places in which each student can feel good and enjoy the indoor and outdoor landscape. Access to the residence is between the 2 buildings. For security and management reasons, there is only one entry.

The project focuses mainly on the idea of preventing heat loss towards sustainability, in line with the ‘climate plan’ of Paris. Thermal insulation and soundproofing of the building are designed to be extra efficient. The isolation of the project is done by outside insulation 16cm thick. This thickness makes the building very well insulated, while opening a large bay front to let maximum light into the apartments.

Design team for the project were: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik, Robert Janez, Katja Aljaz, Andrej Gregoric and Javier Carrera
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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