Ecological house

The house is located in a quiet, leafy area in the centre of the town of Bessancourt in the Val d’Oise department, just 6 km from Auvers-sur-Oise and its artistic heritage. Paris is easily and quickly accessible via the A115, or by direct train from Gare du Nord in 35 minutes (line H).

Situated between the Montmorency national forest and the Maubuisson forest, the largest forest planted in France since the 17th century and of which Bessancourt is the 2nd largest contributor, the house benefits from a preserved and ecologically committed environment. The current development of a one-hectare public landscaped park around the church and town hall, just a 1-minute walk away, is part of this approach to preserving the landscape and green spaces.

Certified as a passive house, this home displays all the characteristics of one. Its custom-made integrated solar thermal panels (now flush with the new chestnut ganivelle cladding) produce both supplementary hot water and roughly twice the building’s annual electricity consumption (in value)!

On the south façade, large movable panels also regulate daylight intake and passive heating through an open-jointed wooden skin. This envelope lends the building elegance and an almost sculptural presence within the landscape. The innovative shutters, which fold accordion-style across both levels of the façade, allow residents to directly control the degree of openness between interior and exterior spaces.

This groundbreaking energy design is based on a classic rectangular plan, whose compactness contributes to its performance. Movable partitions make it possible to adapt the interior layout, offering great flexibility of use.

Since its delivery in 2009, the house has enjoyeda  remarkable posterity. Frequently published and awarded (including selection for the 2011 Archinovo Prize), it stands as an innovative and pioneering project in the field of ecological housing.

A high-performing technological object, this project by the Karawitz agency reflects a desire to integrate contemporary architecture into local culture and heritage. The proximity of the medieval church, listed as a Historic Monument in the village center and requiring the approval of the Architect of French Historic Buildings, served as one of the project’s guiding principles. The architects thus drew inspiration from vernacular forms, combining traditional Île-de-France architecture with a contemporary design language and a deeply ecological approach.

Karawitz, a pioneer architecture studio in bioclimatic housing, was founded in Paris in 2006 by Bulgarian-born architect Milena Karanesheva and Austrian-born architect Mischa Witzmann, who met at Vienna Technical University. After working together in various Austrian and then Parisian offices, the duo founded Karawitz in 2006. Their work soon won them the Vizar, the European architecture prize, and the Special Prize of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture. In 2010, the agency won the Diapason competition for a participatory housing project on the banks of the Canal de l’Ourcq in Paris.

Fourteen years after it was founded, the agency is focusing on four major areas of applied research: the construction of individual and collective housing incorporating bioclimatic principles; participative housing and its role in urban space; the refurbishment and transformation of offices and tertiary buildings; contemporary architecture with a social ambition in areas with a unique climate and history (Congo).

Their intention is to design quality architecture, free from ideology and dogmatism. Their projects always incorporate an ecological dimension, seen as a logical consequence of an approach that respects and conserves environmental resources.