Paris, France

Category:            Affordable, Social, and Community Living Housing
Year:                2025
Architects:          Collet Muller Architectes and Obvie Architecture 
Lead Architects:     Antoine Collet, Christophe Muller, and Victor Miot 
Landscape Architects: Les Rondeaux 
Design Team:         Jules Da Luz Marques, Thibaut Kaluzinski, and Eva Morin 
Clients:             OGIC - Promoteur Immobilier Île-de-France and Groupe Emerige
Photographers:       Olivier Campagne 

The first step is to preserve the overall volume of the existing building in order to maintain the distinctive perspectives of Rue Saint-Hyacinthe and Rue de la Sourdière. The next step is to reintroduce vertical windows within a new façade in the Parisian style, which, through its repetition, respects the rhythms and structures of the old building.

The essence of this architectural proposal is to retain the existing framework, carefully assess it to minimise demolition work, and install voids. At the base level, this primarily involves a new landscaped courtyard, terraced from the ground floor to the second basement level, to maximise natural light at the base. At the level of the dwellings, there will be a series of ‘loggias – winter gardens’ for everyone to enjoy, adding rhythm to the Parisian streets.

The base, the nerve centre of the project, has two side porches that clearly distribute all the functions on the ground floor: on the one hand, the dwellings on Rue de La Sourdière, served by a single vertical staircase from a glass-fronted hall overlooking the landscaped courtyard; and on the other hand, a reversible set of shops on Rue Saint-Hyacinthe, extending over three levels with ample natural lighting.

The layout of the dwellings multiplies the possibilities for circulation, promotes diagonal views and thus significantly increases the feeling of space in a French context where living space in dwellings is very limited. South-facing units are deep and have several layers of rooms, while north-facing units are narrow, with a single row of rooms along the façade to maximise natural light. Finally, all units, without exception, have an outdoor living space.

All the roof terraces are planted with vegetation to create a shaded island of coolness capable of coping with global warming in a very mineral-rich area. The courtyard is designed as a largely planted space, providing an island of coolness during periods of high heat. All levels have planted terraces or gardens.

The use of lime-hemp allows all the façades to be insulated with natural, local materials. Depending on the existing building and always with a view to efficiency during the construction phases, we offer different systems for implementing this material, ranging from prefabricated elements to hemp breeze blocks.