A rational house around a hidden courtyard, near Paris

Nana House, the residence designed by Jean Benoît Vétillard Architecture, is located on an urban lot in Bagnolet – Parisian banlieue – divided into two parts: the building, created in continuity with a group of existing dwellings, occupies the southern sector by making the most of light and space, while the northern part of the area has been transformed into a garden, protected by a glass canopy and enriched by various elements designed to house plants. The facade, characterised by dark grey wooden laths, has been designed following the architectural standards of the neighbourhood and its manufacturing workshops, while the interior of the house is bright, spacious and flexible.

Developed around a central courtyard, not visible from the outside, the house displays a metal structure made of beams and pillars on the ground floor to support the upper levels. Leaning on this structural grid, a two-level wooden-clad volume faces the inner courtyard, dialoguing with it through various openings and ribbon windows.  First and second floors, where the sleeping area is set, are distributed around the void of the courtyard, the core of the project. The free plan of the ground floor is characterised by metal pillars but also by concrete side walls and wood, generating the volumes designed specifically for this environment: furniture, stairs, storage units. From the central skylight on the roof, plenty of light floods the space.