Barrault Pressacco

The project consists of transforming a parking garage into studio apartments. The existing structure is composed of concrete in the upper levels, and steel elements in the floors below, proof of a more recent transformation. The strategy preserves the original framework and relies on the measurements of the structural grid in order to, on the one hand, organize the apartment typologies, and on the other hand, allow for the removal of a portion of the concrete slabs in the building’s core giving access to natural light and ventilation. These three courtyards, one main and two secondary, create new views and interactions between dwellings. The residences are thus all double orientated, finding views stretching from the street to the courtyard, and refreshment from the inner patios. The largest courtyard also plays role in the building’s circulation. Shared external corridors, capable of becoming outdoor spaces appropriated by housing units, form a new architecture in the heart of the new project.