88 Housing units + 1 retail space - Rue Danton, Pantin - France

About the project

In Pantin, a northeaster suburb of Paris, France, Avenier Cornejo architectes have erected three buildings beside the Canal de l'Ourcq. They contain a total of 88 flats, are arranged in a semicircle and enclose a small courtyard that opens onto the canal.

The third block is located on the west side of the street: it has one additional storey and commercial space on the ground floor. All three buildings have roughly the same proportions, but the design of each is determined by the shape of the plot and their orientation towards the canal.

Hand-moulded bricks have been laid in stretcher bond with hollow joints. The window sections are set in contrasting Flemish bond with the header bricks somewhat recessed to create a relief effect. The architects selected their three brick colours as a modern response to the pale yellow of the Grands Moulins de Pantin flour mills, built in 1884, and located just a little further west along the canal. The metal used for the window frames and railings is also a different colour on every block: red brick is complemented by grey metal details, light grey bricks by green, and dark grey bricks by brown. The same bricks were also used to pave the path that meanders through the old trees in the garden. The ensemble is a successful synthesis of unity and diversity.

"The evidence for us was to work with the brick because of the industrial path of the area. There are many industrial buildings in the city of Pantin and close to the project there is an important industrial landmark which is the Grand Moulins building."