Children’s Playhouse in Bonneuil-sur-Marne
This new playhouse is set within a social-housing estate consisting of high-rise structures in a suburb southeast of Paris. The residents of the estate expressed the desire to have an amenity that could be used by the public and would function as a point of attraction for this area: the programme called for turning an inconspicuous two-storey building dating to the 1960s into a place for children to meet and play. The small budget and the antithetical requirement that the building be open and introverted at the same time posed a challenge, so the architects came up with an unconventional response: a new skin completely cloaks the existing building and endows its exterior – which, with its few openings, makes a monumental impression – with the strong presence that such a public building requires. And at the same time a welcoming, cosy space for children has come about. The sculptural skin – a self-supporting, in some instances folded, concrete structure – create a variety of spaces.
