Caserne Mellinet
The 52-unit housing project is part of the urban redevelopment of the “ZAC Caserne Mellinet,” which is transforming 13.5 hectares of former military land into 1,700 homes and facilities by 2030. Nantes Métropole Aménagement and the City of Nantes have set ambitious environmental goals for the masterplan, encouraging the use of bio-based materials; the district is thus emerging as a laboratory for new construction techniques.
The site’s heritage context, together with the strong environmental ambitions led by the developer and the local authorities, shaped our response.
Residential architecture is the raw material of the city: it cannot be conceived outside of its context. In this respect, the Mellinet barracks, rich in points of reference, offers fertile ground.
The preserved barracks buildings, through the clarity of their siting and architecture, structure the future city and give it a singular identity.
Likewise, the first housing schemes delivered on the site initiated a strong architectural language, characterized by the layering of registers — plinth, base, R+3, attic. Our proposal continues in this vein in order to ensure the coherence needed for the emergence of a shared urban identity.
The project’s architectural language draws on its topographical, historical, and contemporary context:
- A self-supporting stone plinth echoes the hard-stone foundations found throughout the district.
- The lower levels, defined by a horizontal grid, take up the vocabulary of the neighboring developments and contribute to a shared identity.
- Finally, the recessed attic asserts a differentiated architecture: a timber structure and timber-frame façades, articulated by horizontal and vertical breaks, create a lighter expression. Here, wood is deliberately used as a marker of domesticity.
Our ambition was to propose a restrained architecture that is both urban and mineral, while also meeting demanding environmental targets (thermal performance, Bio-based level 3, etc.). The choice of hemp construction reflects the agency’s forward-looking approach to building systems, as well as a broader reflection on the development and structuring of local production channels. To better address this specific subject, we worked with LM Ingénieur. Their involvement helped us deal with numerous technical, economic, and regulatory complexities. Each one required significant adjustment and modeling work, notably with regard to airtightness, acoustics, and fire behavior. Despite our initial intention to work with local partners, we ultimately had to use prefabricated façade panels manufactured in Aulnoy, in Seine-et-Marne, and assembled on site. The resulting homes meet the level of quality that underpins the agency’s work. All of the apartments have private outdoor space, allowing for genuine use. From T3 upward, all homes are dual-aspect, promoting natural ventilation and improving summer comfort. Since the quality of a home also depends on its shared areas, we paid particular attention to the sequence from the garden gate to the apartment entrance door. Access to the residence is via a planted void, which serves the two lobbies. These in turn provide access to the stairwells, naturally lit throughout their full height.
