The brick façade overlooking the Canal de l’Ourcq is a showcase for and of the city. With these highly-glazed housing units, full advantage is taken of the sweeping landscape. The buildings placed around the perimeter of the block are a visual echo of industrial architecture of the early 20th century: the continuous expanses of glazing, brick cladding, setback upper floors and truncated corners all speak to this vernacular. The large footprint of the site lot was an invitation to open up the heart of the block to the street, creating vistas and penetrating sight-lines: we prioritised creating a strong visual connection between interior garden areas and the street. Set into this internal area, rows of townhouses bring the development down to a domestic scale.