Located within the perimeter of the Marais preservation plan, this 10-level commercial building designed in the 1970s is a rare example of post-war architecture in this sector. It consists of a 7 story framework on top of a 3-level underground car park with an inverted vault supporting a suspended garden and a pitched roof profile crowning the building, the entire structure being made of shuttered concrete.
The initial construction stood out for its neutral and generic character, reflected in open floor plans without intermediate pillars. Our architectural approach aimed to preserve this neutrality by highlighting the building's structure. Taking advantage of the requirement of an external thermal insulation to comply with energy saving regulations, all existing interior linings were removed, exposing the structure’s brutalist aesthetic. Stairs, guardrails, and façades were designed as separate elements in black steel (inside) and stainless steel (outside), emphasizing the original concrete structure. The structure was exposed, allowing the old adjoining walls made of rubble stones and the raw concrete of the frame to interact with the new metalwork elements. The steel, aluminum, and glass façades are fixed or cantilevered to the existing concrete façade beams.
Over 90% of the original structure was preserved, highlighting the modernist principles of the building and its brutalist aesthetics. The street-facing façade, once 20 cm thick, was replaced with a 62 cm thick façade that incorporates structure, heating systems, inside shutters and outside curtains. Highlighting the structure encouraged us not to differentiate between living and working spaces, with the intention of integrating a mix of uses on a small scale, superimposing residential areas, offices, and showroom open to the public.This project demonstrates that a façade grid designed for offices can work for residences, even for small north-facing units, as long as they are bathed in natural light while preserving privacy.
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