Architectural practice Moreau Kusunoki has recently completed Le Belier, a 50-meter-tall timber tower in Paris, which features housing residential units along with various other amenities and marks a departure from the norm in housing projects of this scale. According to the architects, the design of the timber tower began from a deep understanding of the given site and its designation as a new residential center at the southeastern end of Paris.

The grid, legible on the facade, comes from the idea of the inhabited wall and it is used as a filter to keep the growing, densely built urban environment at a distance. The design of the frame and its proportions derive as much from a structural necessity, as from the will to emphasize the verticality of the building. Giving longer proportions to the facade allows it to measure up against the great heights that surround it and participate fully in this monumental landscape.

In contrast to this massive and introverted inhabited wall, there is the transparent base, a public space that aspires to be part of the city. The public spaces, housing shared spaces, an art gallery, and a restaurant, all open the building to the city. Overall, the project measures over 7,329 square meters, accommodating 77 housing units, each with a private exterior space, in addition to the various amenities present at the lower levels.

Located at the intersection of multiple flows, networks and scales, the project strives to find a balance between the monumental and the domestic. The attention given to the materiality in charred and preweathered wood can also be found in the care given to the layout of the residential units. All have a private exterior space, through which a discrete and respectful link is woven between interior and exterior, nature and city, private and public, towards the budding neighborhood and its inhabitants.

High ceilings, large openings and access to the outdoors in every apartment highlights the attention to the living spaces within. This also extends to tiny details, such as the bespoke door handles, which were designed by specialist maker Izé. According to the architects, the project merges architecture and landscape ‘in a simultaneous and intertwined way, so as to offer a greener, more human and ecological city of the future’.