Twelve meteorites
Open to the light and equipped with hanging gardens or private outdoor spaces, the accommodations at the Calista de Jacou residence play the card of originality.“I wanted to create like cabins perched on roof terraces, and break the monolithism of a classic building, by dividing the volumes. We are situated between the individual villa and collective accommodation », adds the architect.
Each of the twelve "Boxes", "Like randomly fallen meteorites", is characterized by a specific variety of materials - stone, zinc or wood facings.
“Residents feel spotted. They can say, from the outside, 'I live there'. The echoes are very positive ”, explains Jean-Luc Martineau nicely. While remaining within reasonable construction costs, as some residents benefit from moderate rents.
“With Amétis, we talked a lot to find efficient technical construction systems. "
Residence Calista: a welcoming setting
A common living room offers the possibility to the inhabitants to exchange, around a game of cards, or to watch television together. The habitat is structured around an interior pedestrianized and vegetated lane.
The walkways and passageways offer low-angle effects of an almost cinematic quality. We are far from the batteries of cramped housing, intended for single elderly people. Calista, for example, offers two-room apartments, for welcoming families or friends, or, quite simply, for married life.
The sector is also well equipped, with a college, sports facilities, green spaces, dedicated lanes for soft mobility, public services and the proximity of line 2 of the tramway in the Montpellier metropolitan area.
Very large format frames
Profiles Systèmes produced the aluminum joinery in the upper part. These large frames (8 meters by 3) were installed by the company Alutech, also located in Jacou. “These are not standard formats. Amétis contacted us because they could not find companies for this type of service. Discussions began a year and a half before the start of the work, to determine, among other things, a type of glass that rejects the sun's UV rays, and to harmonize the frame in relation to the crossbars and mullions. "
In addition, motorized interior blinds with vertical bands, complete the good sun protection of the homes, while allowing generous light to penetrate.
“The twelve sets of the Calista de Jacou residence were fitted with these large frames, but not in the same way. The dimension taking has been different each time, with new angles taken, given the trapezoidal shapes of the construction ”, underlines Josian Laux, sales manager of Alutech.
The frames were each installed in one piece, each time on the second floor, after a very short transport (about 1 kilometer) between the place of manufacture and the site. As the site was behind schedule, only three out of twelve were able to be hoisted using a crane. Nine others were done with ropes, by force of arms, "And with the risk of friction on the facade", rewinds Josian Laux.
Complicated, but won. In the end, Bruno Bidault, manager of Alutech, praises the aesthetics of Calista, "That one would recognize among a thousand, with its different facades".