Fermes Urbaines

The proposal challenges the generic standard ‘housing block’ layout by creating a more human-scale but high-density housing while encouraging and developing a great sense of community living. The site is located in Narbonne in the South of France in a low-rise residential neighbourhood dominated by large two-storey private houses with red terracotta pitch roofs. The challenge was to insert a high-density residential development to fit in the existing low-density context. The project minimizes the scale and the massing of the development by breaking it down into six small, interconnected volumes of varying heights. The facades are tilted above the second storey and are finished with a red terracotta concrete finish so the overall building reads visually as a cluster of large houses with inhabited roofs. A dialogue with the surrounding houses is therefore created. A perimeter leftover open space imposed by local planning law is used as communal allotments for the residents to create a greater sense of community, sharing space and interaction among the residents while developing self-reliance and common responsibility.

Project: Commission
Size: 4,368 m²
Budget: €4.8M
Place: Narbonne, France
Status: On going
Team: Urban Agency
Type: Commission
Client: AD Promotion