Pantin Building with Courtyard

Over recent years, the Ourcq canal has become a trendy meeting place in Paris and Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis). Built in the 19^th century to provide Paris with drinking water, it is currently considered to be the "Champs-Élysées of Greater Paris".

The Ourcq canal, docks, and the Pantin General Stores define the development’s environment, making it a site with character. To embrace the spirit of the place, which is typified by heavy-duty raw-looking industrial buildings, the development was given a simple, massive volumetry that challenges the construction’s purpose. 

Clad in glass and steel, this ‘clarity building’ dialogues with its industrial environment and draws out the site’s port history. Inside the building, the apartments are set around an inner courtyard. This ‘constructed form’ provides continuity with the heavy-duty buildings lining the canal, while also making the apartments dual aspect. 

The regular structure creates cube-shaped volumes, giving the apartments total freedom in terms of lay-out. The apartments are sold in an unfinished state, with no partition walls or interior finishing. Two porches lead into the planted courtyard, where the building’s entrance is located.

Light become the main author of the setting as it projects the surrounding colours and reflections of the water onto each facade.