Seniors’ Residence + Nursery / a/LTA

Architects: a/LTA
Location: Route de Rennes, Nantes, France
Project Team: Isateg + Auxitec
Area: 5,000 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Stéphane Chalmeau

Performance: BREAM
Client: Notre Dame de Lourdes
Cost: € 6,800,000

From the architect. The project is located in the centre of Rennes and is composed of a home for the elderly, a children’s nursery and a restaurant with three levels underground parking.It also encompasses the existing “Notre Dame de Lourdes” clinic complex which is located on the north of the plot along the rue Saint Helier.

The use of empty space to structure and animate the project is a result of its functional requirements, urban context and site location.

The project is very much a part of its environment in terms of alignment, building height and rhythm while at the same time keeping a certain distance from same with its play on depth and transparency.

The principal south facing volume which gives onto the street has a double curtain wall façade which permits the use of climbing vegetation this in turn reduces the impact of natural light on the façade and also acts as a solution to privacy problems.The west side has a series of hanging planters that punctuate the façade and give the residents a green view.The style of the project takes its cues from the neighbouring buildings and has been inserted with care and attention. A treatment by shadow joint separates the façades old and new and this allows the alignment of the new parapet with the roof of the existing building.

An important focus of the operation was to form a therapeutic link for the Alzheimer’s patients with the exterior spaces. To achieve this goal the building is organized around a landscaped environment of an existing park, flower and vegetable gardens and the applied planting that brings life to the façades (planters and cables for climbing plants).

The use of colour in the interior spaces was an important way to highlight the different spaces and an aid to orientation for the Alzheimer’s patients.

Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA © Stéphane Chalmeau
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Satelital Image
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Ground Floor Plan
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Floor Plan
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Floor Plan
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Floor Plan
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Underground Floor Plan
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA North Elevation
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA West Elevation
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA South Elevation
Seniors' Residence + Nursery / a/LTA Section

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Logan Graphic Products 704 Glass Cutter glass cutter each

The Logan 704 Glass Cutter is a hand held glass cutting tool that features a hardened steel wheel and an ergonomic handle. Includes cutting fluid. The Glass Cutter can be used on its own, or with Logan equipment where cutting heads hook on, including: Team System Mat Cutters Compact Mat Cutters Artist Elite Mat Cutters Simplex Elite Mat Cutters

Product Features

  • pull-type 90-degree cutter
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blog wunderlust: 23rd December 2013

Can we architects working in the Third World afford to consider projects in isolation? […]the issues are more serious than the design of aesthetically pleasing or even good buildings
Yasmeen Lari
(c)Alka Patel, Courtesy ARTstor Alka Patel Archive

Intense, Graphic Photos ‘Whitewash’ Buildings in Los Angeles | The Best (and Worst) Countries to Be a Female Architect | 10 architects were told to create their fantasy home. This is what happened | Los Angeles Bans Heat-Sucking Roofs | Man Builds Fairy Tale Home for His Family – Total Cost £3,000 | What Architecture Schools Get Wrong | 2013 in Review: Top 10 Architecture Projects | Top 10 Deliciously Modern Gingerbread Houses

last word: Islamic Art Scholar Traces Havana’s Mozarabic Influences

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2013 Holiday Gift Guide (the Architect’s Version)

Tired of people coming up with lame excuses that they don’t know what to get you for Christmas because of your discerning tastes, or maybe you signed up for your office’s secret Santa and are stumped or perhaps you just need that perfect bespoke piece for that special architect in your life. Looked no further that architechnophilia’s 2013 Holiday Gift Guide (the Architect’s Version).

An origami style white choker hand made from paper, glue, metal, lacquer

The Sea Urchin Collection hand crafted by Touch by VLS

A stylish yet practical suede leather pencil roll

Previously sold by Merchant 4, Place for Trace is a smart and nearly obvious solution for designers and architects

Pencil – think with your hands

Some other lists from Architizer, Remodelista & ArchDaily (so sorry this is late)

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Depot House by Gray Organschi Architecture

Gray Organschi Architecture designed the Depot House in Bantam, Connecticut.

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Description from Gray Organschi Architecture

The Shepaug River Valley Railroad, which ran along the Bantam River in the late 19th century, stopped at this location, once the site of a tiny local train depot. We saved and reinforced the existing 19th century rubble foundation, using it as the base for this new house. Two simple gable structures, oriented perpendicularly to each other, create space for a large open plan between them and refer, through their forms, to neighboring barns and to the region’s agricultural heritage. The house interior is lined with bleached pine; kitchen, dining, living and family rooms overlap each other and create a rich series of spatial experiences that accommodate relaxed weekend living. The living spaces open onto a lap pool which is edged in stone-lined gabion baskets and is surrounded by a cedar deck. Outdoor spaces provide views across the meadow to the Bantam River.

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Designed by Gray Organschi Architecture

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