new housing
heritage context

In the heart of the Ile de Chartres, on the site of the former fire station, ANMA has designed a housing complex as a new link between an active historic center and a city entrance undergoing a complete transformation.

After more than 60 years as the city’s fire department, the site adjoining the boulevard du Maréchal Foch is now being redesigned as a new, lively, pedestrian and green urban grid to generously reopen the island to the rest of the city and resignify the major axis of the rue du Faubourg Guillaume.

Located just a 10-minute walk from the cathedral, the housing project turns the city’s historical and architectural heritage into an urban material: the ile de Chartres becomes a balcony with unobstructed panoramic views of the building, as well as the remains of the Porte Guillaume.

dialogue between
Chartres and its island

With a maximum height of R+4 and a total of 133 dwellings, the 7 buildings are contextualized within the urban and plant environment of the area: a grading from the banks of the Eure allows the buildings to blend in with the existing trees and their crowns. The first floor on Boulevard du Maréchal Foch is active – business premises – and open in order to connect the heart of the block to the public space, and create porosities where people and the wind can enter: places for urban strolls and natural ventilation.

In keeping with existing Chartres architecture, the buildings are designed as naves oriented from east to west. In this way, the stone sub-foundations echo the materiality of the cathedral, extending the visual dialogue established by the panoramic views.

panoramic views
and soft mobility

Quality of use is central to the design of this project. At the resident’s level, the homes have generous private outdoor spaces, and the vast majority offer distant views of the town’s historic center and the River Eure. On a block-wide scale, the heart of the site is laid out as a shared garden, a place for conviviality and coolness in the summer months. To encourage the use of soft mobility for a more comfortable lifestyle, each building is equipped with a bicycle room offering up to two spaces per dwelling.

PROJECT TEAM

PROJECT MANAGER
Architect : ANMA
Structure : ESBAT
Electricity, fluids, heat engineering: AB Ingenierie
Geotechnics, hydrogeology: Geocentre
VRD : Infra Services

COMPETITION
Alice Perugini
Alexandre Bigot

RESEARCH
Aurélie Perrin
Chloé Coudraud

TECHNICAL SHEET

STATUS On-going research

COMMISSIONED BYBouygues Immobilier

CALENDAR Since 2022

SURFACE 8,000 m² site

WORK NC

OUTLOOK Air Studio

SEE +
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Saint-Mandé, Begin housing