A change of skin, rehabilitation in Paris

"Square Vitruve" is a real-estate project in co-ownership
built on a concrete slab.
Along with the construction of the tramway, the ongoing
Major Urban Renovation
Project for the Saint Blaise neighbourhood is opening up this
forgotten corner of
Paris.
The major rehabilitation of this seriously degraded building
containing 56 social
housing units was carried out while it was in use in a highly
complex urban, technical
and statutory environment and has played a part in
preserving the social fabric of a
neighbourhood undergoing massive change.
This intervention on the building’s shell has been conducted
in constant dialogue with
the city’s council and inhabitants in line with ambitious
specifications. These
specifications sought to confer a strong identity on the
building, foster diversity,
imagine new uses and improve the energy performance of a
building whose
occupants have described it as a “thermal sieve” in order to
achieve Paris City
Council’s Climate Plan.
Basing its analysis on sun studies to assess the impact of
the nearby high-rise
buildings, Atelier du Pont suggested adding balconies
wherever this made sense. This
was a simple idea that was hard to put into practice, yet
provided the apartments
with outdoor areas and completely remodelled the
architecture of the façades.
Designed as a kind of clever, oversized Meccano kit on a site
that cannot be accessed
by heavy plant, this new skin was installed without putting
machinery on the concrete
slab and using no cranes or pods. The balconies are
suspended from the roof, and all
the materials and technical solutions have been designed to
avoid overloading the
existing structure and disrupting residents’ daily life.