In Marseilles, the tallest wooden building is a student residence

In Marseilles, A+Architecture has designed one of the highest wooden buildings in France. Consisting of three wings, the design benefits from a very high ground floor and attics on the top two levels as well as quality shared spaces. The graduation of the building heights of the project will interact with the surrounding buildings and leave them with space to breath despite the density of the area.

Most of the rooms are directed towards the enclosed garden, a genuinely relaxing indoor garden, on the street side, the openings are positioned along the less noisy alley. Wood is found on all the ceilings and on the walls of the rooms, the latter being sound-proofed. It is also present in the corridors and communal rooms, but not on the facings where its ageing is deemed too visible. Its strong interior presence gives the impression of a warm and relaxing atmosphere with soft acoustics. The use of solid wood CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) limits energy consumption and provides an excellent carbon footprint. The cladding is something else. A perforated curved panel is mixed with large aluminium shingles to mix up the lines, reduce the scale and break-down the volumes.