Ivry-sur-seine, Greater Paris, France
Rethinking housing from the inside out: a new generation of social and affordable housing, where the dwelling adapts to its inhabitants–and not the other way around.
START-Ivry sets out to redefine housing culture. It rejects the prevailing standardisation of housing production and responds to the growing diversity of contemporary lifestyles.
It rethinks housing from the inside—starting from the resident—restoring the central role of the floor plan, and boldly reversing the conventional process by starting with architecture: the architect is selected first, and developers are then invited to compete. START embodies a genuine paradigm shift.
START-Ivry by STAR strategies + architecture, won an 2026 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
START stands for Social, Transformable, Affordable and Resilient Typologies—housing solutions that respond to contemporary life. Located in Ivry-sur-Seine, a city historically linked to architectural innovation, START paves the way for a new cycle of experimentation in housing.
START is both a manifesto and a demonstration: it proves that much better housing can be achieved without increasing surface areas and within very constrained budgets. A pilot project. A vanguard.
Households today are increasingly diverse and dynamic—single-parent families, blended households, elderly residents requiring assistance, remote workers—while housing has remained largely standardized, serving developer logic more than the realities of life.
START address this mismatch by creating housing adapted to its inhabitants: units can be enlarged in anticipation of a child, a kitchen relocated to make an extra bedroom, children’s rooms transformed into a studio, or a neighbouring unit purchased to extend the current one.
Even in its initial state, the dwelling already accommodates a wide range of users and situations, placing residents at the heart of design.
START comprises 5 buildings with 288 units, including social, intermediate, and market-rate housing. The project offers a wide range of typologies, from studios to 5-bedroom homes, including intermediate “plus” and “bonus” types.
These are structured around three complementary frameworks: the 10 Adaptability Principles ensuring flexibility over time (divisible dwellings, groupable units, movable kitchens, balcony “plugs”, alcoves, modular rooms, etc); the 8 Quality Principles ensuring spatial quality (double/triple orientation, naturally lit kitchens and bathrooms, usable outdoor space), and the 10 Principles for a Good Tower defining a positive, desirable density well integrated into its context.
Housing quality determines building form. The exceptional slenderness of the five towers (14m depth, up to 56m high) maximises natural light, ventilation, and views (90% of units have views towards the Seine, 88% double/30% triple orientation).
Window positions, balconies, recessed loggias, and colour accents emerge from interior logic, generating façades that are varied yet meaningful. Concrete and red-painted surfaces reference Ivry’s architectural heritage.
Sustainability is approached broadly: 20% reduction in energy use, low-carbon concrete for structure and façades, geothermal heating, and above all, spatial resilience.
Homes can evolve over decades, addressing social, environmental, and economic sustainability at once.
The project was made possible by the pioneering “Inverse Method”: the architect selected first to draft the brief, and developers were then invited to compete in ateliers over 8 months, based on the architect’s project.
Project: START-Ivry
Architects: STAR strategies + architecture
Lead Architect: Beatriz Ramo López de Angulo
Design Team: Danae Zachariaki, Geoffrey Clamour, Efraín Pérez del Barrio, Javier Cuartero, Ivan Guerrero, Syeva Roest, Bittor Arrillaga, Maria Castillo, Marc Coma, and Iris Ramas
Landscape Architects: BOARD (Bureau of Architecture, Research, and Design)
General Contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France
Client: Phase 1: SADEV94 / Phase 2: Sogeprom Réalisations
Photographers: Nicolas Trouillard, Nicolas Grosmond, Vladimir Partalo, and Kamel Khalfi
