Golden Cube
The Golden Cube housing forms part of the larger redevelopment of Boulogne-Billancourt. The eight-storey student housing is situated in lot A4 Est in Le Trapèze, a sector allocated for housing, offices, retail, public facilities and green space.
The guiding principles of these student halls of residence were standardisation, self-regulation and a maximisation of internal space. This project, with its 156 rooms in an 8-storey building taking up almost the entire plot, is no exception to this rule. There is nonetheless a secret garden,as the project coordinators, Loci Anima, were keen to reintroduce some biodiversity onto the island.
Every flat has an outdoor area. A 1.5-metre recess allowed us to include loggias along almost the entire façade. The building’s outline is blurred by the use of filters, water effects and openings in the perforated sheets of steel. It is also dotted with birdhouses. The occupants cannot interfere with them and they require no maintenance.
We were confronted with a dense setting and the client’s demand for cost effectiveness. Despite a compact context, offering quality of use was imperative. Afterall, students are humans and not a product. The design process consequently revolved around this problematic: is it possible to propose a different living environment where life is the main subject ?
