House on the Roof

This project involved restructuring and vertical extension of an early 50s Modern house located in an estate on the edge of the Parc de Sceaux. Our approach was to dissociate the extension from the existing structure, maintaining the identity of the original house and using it as a base for the new build. The roof is being entirely preserved, and the load from the new structure is distributed by means of a floor slab supported by existing end walls. This «stacking» method made it possible to increase the floor area by 125% while remaining within the old building’s footprint and therefore living the lush garden intact. We decided to split the new build into three distinct blocks plus the extended chimney, so that the whole would be in harmony with the suburban scale of the neighboring houses. Four rectangular blocks (three boxes + the chimney stack) are literally laid on top of the existing house, with carefully considered gaps and areas of transparency. Three prefabricated timber boxes share the same design principle: each has five opaque metal-clad sides, while the sixth, south-oriented façade overlooking the park consists of glazed frames partially protected with external sunshades. To enhance the contrast between the old and the new, we created simple volumes whose smooth, light and elegant surface makes them almost abstract, and placed them atop the rough, stocky, ivied mass of the existing building. Slightly iridescent titanium sheeting in pale green and champagne shades further lightens the add-on blocks by reflecting the sky and the vegetation.