![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cbb3/e58e/ce99/fc00/00bb/newsletter/PORTADA_Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_20.jpg?1459997602)
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Architects: Hamonic + Masson & Associés
- Area: 3200 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Sergio Grazia, Christophe Demonfaucon
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Facade, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cbce/e58e/ce99/fc00/00bc/newsletter/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_26.jpg?1459997626)
Text description provided by the architects. The ‘Golden Cube’ student residence project is situated on the ‘A4 Est’ sector of Le Trapèze. This particular lot acts as a point of liason between the existing Boulogne and the new construction development. Here there is a strong importance surrounding the unification of urban density, diversity and pleasure, underscored by the incorporation of ecology and bio-diversity, in order to integrate nature into the heart of the urban environment.
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/d11b/e58e/ce67/1800/013e/newsletter/WALLPAPER_HAMONIC_MASSON.jpg?1459998990)
Some of the fundamental principles that guided the programmation and construction of A4 Est were a coherence and harmony of buildings, limitation of vis-à-vis, construction at intermediate height to maintain a human scale and a blending of exterior and interior limits by offering loggias and exterior space.
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cc24/e58e/ce99/fc00/00be/medium_jpg/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_24.jpg?1459997714)
The guiding principles of these student halls of residence were standardisation, self-regulation and a maximisation of internal space. This project, with its 156 rooms in an 8-storey building taking up almost the entire plot, is no exception to this rule. There is nonetheless a secret gar- den, as the project coordinators, Loci Anima, were keen to reintroduce some biodiversity onto the island.
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cc59/e58e/ce99/fc00/00c0/medium_jpg/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_23.jpg?1459997766)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/d168/e58e/ce67/1800/0141/newsletter/01_GROUND_FLOOR_GOLDEN_CUBE_HAMONIC_MASSON.jpg?1459999069)
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Door, Glass, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cd1a/e58e/ce99/fc00/00c5/medium_jpg/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_18.jpg?1459997955)
Every flat has an outdoor area. A 1.5-metre recess allowed us to include loggias along almost the entire façade. The building’s outline is blurred by the use of filters, water effects and ope- nings in the perforated sheets of steel. It is also dotted with birdhouses. The occupants cannot interfere with them and they require no maintenance.
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cecb/e58e/ce67/1800/0134/newsletter/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_08.jpg?1459998396)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/d122/e58e/ce99/fc00/00dc/newsletter/DETAIL_01_NEST_HAMONIC_MASSON.jpg?1459999006)
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cf73/e58e/ce99/fc00/00d3/newsletter/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_04.jpg?1459998564)
We were confronted with a dense setting and the client’s demand for cost-effectiveness. Despite a compact context, offering quality of use was an imperative. Afterall, students are humans and not a product. The design process consequently revolved around this problematic: is it possible to propose a different living environment where life is the main subject ?
![Golden Cube / Hamonic + Masson & Associés - Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5705/cc86/e58e/ce99/fc00/00c1/medium_jpg/Golden_Cube_Sergio_Grazia_21.jpg?1459997811)