Case Study: Passive House, Bessancourt, France

By Laura Raskin

Architects Milena Karanesheva and Mischa Witzmann’s bamboo-clad passive house in Bessancourt, France, 20 miles northwest of Paris, has lured architectural tourists, locals, film crews, and friends of friends. They’ve come around to marvel at its presence in a town where 12th- and 13th-century structures along dense, narrow streets and courtyards trump modern design. As improbable as the house is, located between a historic district and small residences from the ’70s and ’80s, and as challenging as it was to build, it has helped promote the passive house ethos in a country that has been slower than others in Europe to adopt it.