ECDM Architectes extends Parisian apartments with wavy balconies
The curving balconies of this housing scheme by French studio ECDM Architectes create a rippling outline and provide each flat with outdoor space (+ slideshow).
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
ECDM Architectes wanted to offer the maximum space for the economically-priced housing in the provision of wrap-around balconies.
Each apartment in the scheme, named Housing, has access to a 30-metre-square strip of outdoor deck that adjoins the living room, doubling the interior floor plan of a typical one-bed flat within the block.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
"The main idea was to build very economic buildings designed with a very relevant characteristic while keeping the budget close to social housing or entry-level programs," said ECDM Architectes co-founders Emmanuel Combarel and Dominique Marrec.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
The two blocks are set within an open expanse of parkland in Arcueil, a suburb to the south of Paris.
"The unique quality of the site was an opportunity to rethink a formal relationship between a landscape and ways of living. The project envisages housing as stacked villas, wide open to their environment, extended by vast exterior surfaces," said the architects.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
While significantly extending the floor plan and providing outdoor access, the balconies also increase lighting and ventilation for the apartments.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
The rippled tiers, 3.2 metres at their widest point, are faced with white aluminium balustrades that let in sunlight through perforated sections.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
To increase the functionality of the space, the balconies have access to both water taps and electricity.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
"These generous outdoor spaces, real living rooms, bridge private areas in a search for harmony between the urban world and its environment," the architects told Dezeen.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
The architects used the rectilinear blocks as an axis to rotate the wavy tiers around, giving each floor a slightly different plan to ensure that no households overlook.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
"The balconies are designed in order to alternate level-to-level, then the longest cantilevers never superimpose," said the architects.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
Green gardening cupboards separate each terrace from its neighbour and create a visual connection between the floors. Slim columns of green run down the centre of the white building.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
Flowers grown by the residents have begun to spill over the edges of the balcony, giving the building the appearance of vertical terraced garden.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
"Flowers have always been a proof of love," said the architects.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
Photography is by Benoît Fougeirol.
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_0.gif)
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_3.gif)
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_2.gif)
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_4.gif)
![Housing by ECDM Architectes](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/10/Housing_by_ECDM_Architectes_dezeen_5.gif)