Maison Escalier
In Paris, Moussafir Architectes' Maison Escalier puts a twist on a bachelor pad, cantilevering each room off a spiral stair core.
Architects & Firms
Paris
Paris-based architect Jacques Moussafir laughed and then had to count out loud when asked exactly how many floors exist in the 1,650-square-foot house he designed for a bachelor in the city's fashionable Latin Quarter. By Moussafir's calculation, there are 10, including a roof terrace; each level is a single room (if that) branching out from a central staircase core, “like a propeller.” The client requested that there be no doors, and Moussafir's eponymous firm happily complied–though it did enclose two bathrooms. “It's always a dream when a client says they don't want any partitions,” says the architect. Locust-wood paneling on the floors, ceilings, and stairs contrasts with whitewashed masonry walls.
The steel-and-concrete structure sits between two buildings in a residential courtyard, where an old house was razed for the new one. Local preservation regulations dictated that the architect save two walls of the original house. Electronically operated metal shutters with a laser-cut leaf pattern shade the new, glazed southern facade and provide privacy for the occupant–as well as the neighbors.
Completion Date: February 2012
Gross Square Footage: 1,647 square feet + 183-square-foot roof terrace
Total construction cost: 850 000' excl. VAT
Location: 22, Rue Jacob, 6th Arrondissement, Paris, France
PeopleArchitect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Engineer(s): LBE (HVAC engineers), CE Ingénierie and Malishev Wilson Engineers (structural engineers) Contractors: Microsol (deep foundations), Lisandre (concrete work, plumbing, fittings), Général Métal (metal frame and metal shutters), MGN (exterior door and window frames), B2E (electricity), Tischlerei Bereuter (interior woodwork and paneling). Photographer(s): Renderer(s): CAD system, project management, or other software used: Autocad |
ProductsStructural system Exterior cladding Metal Panels: Coated steel cladding panels on roof terrace level. Metal/glass curtain wall: Steel FORSTER frames with extra-clear glass and electrically operated shutters made of lacquered laser-cut steel. Wood: Ipe wood on the outside balcony and roof terrace floors Roofing Other: SOPREMA vegetated roof system with self-sustaining plants Windows Metal frame: coated steel FORSTER frames on the south and east façades, coated aluminium frames on the 2 roof lights Glazing Skylights: double glazing with laminated extra-clear glass Doors Metal doors: terrace glazed door with coated aluminium frame Wood doors: wooden glazed doors on the eastern façade and inside doors paneled with ADMONTER 14mm locust tree boards. Sliding doors: coated aluminium sliding doors for bedroom opening (south façade) Hardware Interior finishes Paneling: ADMONTER dark locust tree boards fixed on fire-resistant plasterboards in the main space + HPL high density panels in the kitchen Solid surfacing: ARDEX white resinous concrete for ground and basement floors, ADMONTER dark locust tree boards for the upper levels Special surfacing:white HPL high density panels for the kitchen floor and furniture Floor and wall tile: creamy color tiles on WEDI waterproof tiling boards for the toilet and bathroom Furnishings Lighting Energy Other unique products that contribute to sustainability: |
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