Social housing in Saintes by Poggi and More

The building of three apartment buildings in the western French city of Saintes resembles white clouds made up of giant pixels. The design comes from the duo of studios Poggi and More from nearby Bordeaux. The new residential units have arisen opposite the Les Boiffiers housing complex from the 1970s, which has also undergone renovation. The brightly white houses feature corrugated metal facades and balconies made of white lattices. The buildings offer a total of thirty social housing units. The layouts of the two and three-bedroom apartments are roughly the same. They differ only in the placement of balconies on the facade, giving the entire structure a playful impression. The architects approached the arrangement of balconies as an interesting experiment to expand the living spaces. Almost all apartments come with two balconies. With low costs, it was possible to significantly increase the apartment areas. The material used for the lattices also allows for the dematerialization of the added elements on the facade and gives passersby a glimpse into the private lives of the apartment residents.