START-Ivry

Ivry-sur-Seine, France

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START-Ivry

Ivry-sur-Seine, France

Firm

STAR strategies + architecture

Type

Residential › Multi Unit Housing

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2024

SIZE

100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

BUDGET

$10M - 50M

Photos

Nicolas Grosmond (4)

START-Ivry: Form follows life

Rethinking housing from the inside out: a new generation of social and private 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 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 and rigid, serving developer logic more than the realities of life. START address this mismatch by creating housing that adapts to its inhabitants: dwellings 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 five buildings totalling 288 dwellings, including social, intermediate, and market-rate housing, arranged to create a new urban skyline along the Seine and Marne rivers in Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris.
The project offers a wide range of typologies, from studios to five-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 (14 m depth, up to 56 m high) maximises natural light, ventilation, and views — 90% of dwellings look towards the Seine/Marne, 88% have double orientation, and 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, while colour coding reveals internal typologies.

Sustainability is approached broadly: a 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 was selected first to draft the brief, and developers were then invited to compete in ateliers over eight months, based on the architect’s project.

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START-Ivry by STAR strategies + architecture

– Name: START-Ivry
– Location: Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris
– Date: 2015 – 2025 (finishing works ongoing)
– Architect: Beatriz Ramo / STAR strategies + architecture — Author: Beatriz Ramo López de Angulo — Project Lead: Danae Zachariaki — Team: Efraín Pérez Del Barrio, Ivan Guerrero, Geoffrey Clamour, Syeva Roest, Javier Cuartero, Bittor Arrillaga, Maria Castillo, Iris Ramas, Marc Coma
– Landscape / public space: Bernd Upmeyer / BOARD, Bureau of Architecture, Research and Design
– Programme – Surface area: 22,863 m² NFA, including 19,701 m² of housing (≈53% private housing, ≈33% social housing and ≈13.5% intermediate housing) – 288 dwellings (up to 350 after possible subdivision); 3,163 m² NFA retail; 2,600 m² outdoor spaces at ground level; 2,000 m² outdoor spaces at upper levels
– Construction cost (2020): €43,367,730 excl. VAT
– Client – Developer: Phase 1: SADEV 94; Phase 2: SOGEPROM Réalisations

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Prize List START-Ivry

2025
- FINALIST in the Matilde Baffa Ugo Rivolta European Award 2025 for Social Housing (ongoing);
- FINALIST in the AMA Archutecture Madrid Awards 2025 in the “Professional Award” category (ongoing);
- WINNER of Batiactu Reader’s Award in the Trophées de la Construction 2025;
- WINNER in the LOOP Design Awards 2025 in the categories “Architecture – Social Architecture”, “Architecture – Multi Unit Housing”, “Landscape – Public Space”, “Landscape – Rooftop Design”;
- Shortlisted in the AHA Architecture Hunter 2025 in the “Public & Urban Design”, “Social Housing” and “High Rise Buildings” categories (ongoing);
- WINNER in the RTF Rethinking the Future Awards 2025 in the category “Woman in Construction (Built)”;
- WINNER in the DNA Paris Design Awards 2025 in the category “Housing”;
- PLATINUM WINNER of the Houzee Awards 2025 in the categories “Social Housing”, “Multi-Family Housing”, “Affordable Housing”, “Accessible and Inclusive Housing”, “Urban Landscape Design”, “Courtyard & Patio Design”;
- FINALIST in the BCIA British Construction and Infrastructure Awards 2025 in the “International Project” category (ongoing);
- WINNER of both Jury’s and People’s Choice Awards in the AZ Awards 2025 in the “Urban Design - Built developments” category;
- SPECIAL MENTION in the Architizer A+ Awards 2025 in the “Affordable Housing” category

2024
- WINNER of the Prize ARVHA Femmes d’Architecture in the category «Œuvre original»;
- RUNNER-UP / 3rd PRIZE at the GADA Award (RTF – Re-Thinking the Future) in the category “Housing (over 5 floors) – Built”;
- WINNER of the Prize Défis Urbains Innovapresse, in the category «Modes d’habiter»;
- WINNER of the Prize Classement des Promoteurs Innovapresse in the category «Réversibilité / modularité»