Architecture | The Pontoise Housing Project, or Building a Community Under Deadline

In addition to the eye-arresting brick and tile work on display at the Pontoise Housing Project in Pontoise, France; the designers acted in committee to lay the foundation of a community in just ten months. The collective project included architects Atelier du Pont, Ignacio Prego Architectures, Jean Bocabeille Architecture and Koz and Philéas. In short order, they rose to the challenge of creating spaces in which residents could mingle with each other.

The architects told ArchDaily:

“Following the client’s decision to use a “Design-build” procedure that corresponded to the cost and scheduling issues, we had to work smartly and collectively to implement inventive strategies.

“The roof terraces of the buildings are laid out to welcome mutualized outdoor spaces instead of private ones. They are distinguished by thematic colors: “red-athletics” (sports, games, etc.), “blue-pool” (relaxation, children’s playground), and “green-garden” (vegetable garden, ping-pong, etc.).

“The inhabitants will be able to inhabit the rooftops and most importantly, they will be able to inhabit them together. No illusions or fake utopias in these shared uses, as the occupants (gendarmes and their families) are used to a coherent, organized community living.

“In contrast to the classic housing block that had been put forth in the initial working brief, the collective Plan01 instead chose diversity and proposed a varying building height that created a skyline devoid of monotony and with multiple views.

“The 5 firms that make up the collective PLAN01 worked side by side on this project, each one working separately on portions of the buildings that had been preliminarily assigned according to a master plan. In this way, each part retains its own characteristics (facades, colors, etc.) that bear the imprint of the firm that designed it. Because the firms work together in a workshop setting, the whole of the project is carried out with a sense of cohesion, and at the same time, it contains a diversity of architectural expression that usually only time brings to the building of a city.”

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