Podcast. How housing was created above a metro station

For this episode, head to Greater Paris, and more specifically… a metro station. Extension of line 4 opened in January 2022, the Barbara station, in the south of Paris, is located on the border between the towns of Montrouge and Bagneux. And just above this station was installed a hostel with thirty-nine lodgings. They were imagined by the lessor RATP Housing and the architect Camille Solomon to accommodate young workers. Five levels of housing built above several levels of void. A challenge !

How did the architect pick it up? Elements of response in this podcast, with the report of the journalist Clément Baudet and the debate of the critical meeting of the City of architecture and heritage.

It’s a story. It is first of all that of the lessor RATP Habitat, a subsidiary of the RATP group founded in 1959, then called Logis Transports. It aims to rehabilitate, build and manage a property portfolio, 36% of which is allocated to its own staff. These are social rental housing, but also housing for students, car parks, public facilities, shops, etc. The story of the Barbara home is also that of line 4 of the Paris metro, linking Porte de Clignancourt, on the northern edge of the city, to Porte d’Orléans, to the south. A line that was extended in January 2022 by two stations. To reach the Lucie-Aubrac terminus, travelers now pass through a station named after the French singer Barbara, buried in the nearby Bagneux cemetery.

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Today. Above the metro entrance there are now thirty-nine one- and two-bedroom apartments, spread over the five upper levels of the building. Building on the spaces containing the vertical circulations leading to the platforms − stairs and lifts −, that is to say building on empty space, was a technical challenge. “We have a distribution slab 80 centimeters thick which allows the loads to be taken up, explains the architect Camille Salomon, head of the project, andt a technical floor, also 80 centimeters, intended for the passage of networks. » In order to eliminate the noise and vibrations caused by passing trains, elastomer pads have been placed above the metro lift shafts. “The inertia of the concrete limits the propagation of sound”, adds Camille Salomon. Lina, who lives on the third floor with her baby girl, who has just been born, ensures that nothing comes to tarnish her comfort.

Hexagonal and irregular in shape, the building – 8 meters wide by 8 meters high – is set back 6 meters from the plot, which reduces the shadows and the vis-à-vis in this border district between Montrouge and Bagneux. , very dense and not very green. Inside, the emphasis has been placed on plants, and the wood softens the harshness of the concrete. On the first floor there is a laundry area shared by the inhabitants, but also a common room opening onto a green terrace. The apartments, which are bathed in light, look out at the back of the resort on the houses and gardens of local residents. “We wanted to highlight the industrial past of Montrouge, comments Vincent Souyri, real estate director of RATP Habitat, owner of the Barbara home, but we also wanted to show that the city is also a place to live, not just to work. » With this in mind, the company is multiplying projects, particularly along line 11 extended to Montreuil.

The opinion of the experts. On the occasion of critical meetings of the City of Architecture and Heritage, architects and journalists debated under the leadership of Francis Rambert, director of the department of architectural creation at the Cité. The architect and teacher Richard Scoffier did not hide his pleasure during the visit. ” The plan is an irregular, twisted hexagon, which gives power to the building, he comments. The building has six facades. They seem to be identical, but not at all. Like the apartments, which are different. I find geometry work fascinating. » To the point of claiming to be “came out completely conquered”. Same enthusiasm on the part of Isabelle Regnier, of the World, who admires the work of integrating the building into the city and praises the ” extremely luxurious quality of space of light ». “It’s been successful at all levels,” approves the journalist.

The architect and journalist Philippe Trétiack is more measured: ” There is a kind of minimalism everywhere. It’s not necessarily very cheerful, and yet it can make you think of forests in the mist, with gray walls and wooden doors. There is a luxury of space, the rooms are large, there are balconies. It does not upset me but it is successful. »

Sophie Trelcat, a journalist specializing in architecture, unreservedly praises the work of Camille Salomon. “She was very inventive on the façade system. Two-thirds are windows that bring in light, but she worked on thick joinery to allow privacy. It has also developed a system of shelves on the railings of the loggias to allow people to work and have lunch outside. » So much so that she concludes: “She is one of the women to watch in 2023.”