The housing crisis of the 1960s led to the construction in the northen part of the city of Bordeaux of the Cité du Grand Parc, a large-scale urban project that addressed the growing demand for dwellings in the aftermath of World War II. Now, in the framework of a comprehensive plan for renewal, the transformation of 530 of the 4,000 living units existing in the area is a response to the problem in reverse: the gradual depopulation of the neighborhood on account of conditions of comfort rendered obsolete.

The intervention, which modifies three of the linear blocks providing social housing, refrains from interfering with the buildings’ original structural elements. The philosophy of preserving all exploitable features of the constructions in question has to do with a certain commitment to sustainability, but it also facilitates adapting an ambitious project to a limited budget. In this manner, through two simultaneous operations – extension and addition – the useful floor area of each apartment increases with a screen of usable garden balconies, which gives every home a private exterior space that faces south. The arrangement of these winter gardens has a positive bearing on the thermal performance of the enclosure of the blocks, as do the quality of the materials introduced in the process and the insulation of the rear facades...[+]