Residential Tower in Paris

The building reconsiders the possibility and potential on height in the Paris' skyline.

Members of the Council of Paris revised the urban regulations for the Masséna- Bruneseau sector in Paris’ southeasterly 13th arrondissement at the city council meeting of Tuesday 16th November 2011. This amendment allowed the construction of residential towers measuring 50 meters tall, and of office blocks measuring up to 180 meters tall.

Functioning as one single building and offering social housing and home ownership opportunities, the project links the strict rigidity of the Avenue de France, the railway landscape, the entrance to the Ivry suburb and finally the transition from a linear city to a vertical one.

The terraces spiral upwards, catching the light at every angle, adding to the allure of this tiered tower, while leaving an impression of progressive transformation. The performance resides in the fact that there is no feeling of repetition throughout this structure of 200 homes. The apartments are stacked on top of one another, but each has its own strong, unique identity.

Many people aspire to live in suburban style, individual housing. There are many reasons for this, but in particular being able to create a true identity for one’s own home. Secondly there’s appeal of eating outside, having direct contact with the outdoors from the comfort of your own house, while owning one's own land. These desires must be integrated in to the scale of the apartments in a collective building. The architects have responded to this search for individual identity, ownership and differentiation by creating multiple exterior spaces and apartments with various, differing typologies within the collective.

Living up high gives a sense of privilege: the view, the light and the sunshine… Some say they "have their head in the clouds." Being in the city while also being able to shut oneself off and see the land below and the horizon: living here is like getting away from it all.

PROJECT DATA

Location: ZAC Masséna
Program: 96 apartments, 92 social housing units shops and car park
Client: Bouygues Immobilier
Architects: Hamonic+Masson & Associés, architects and Comte Vollenweider, associated architects
Engineering and quantity surveying: Sibat
Urban planner: Ateliers Yves Lion
Urban projects developer: Sémapa
General Contractor: Bouygues Bâtiment Habitat résidentiel
Cost: 24,5 M€ (all inclusive : shop, infrastructure…)
Price per square meter: Floor area of 13 780 m2 (includes shop) = 1 777 €/m2
Average purchase price: 10 000€/m²
Type of financing (social housing): Social landlord : RIVP
Housing typology: 1-room to 5-rooms apartment
Photo credits: Takuji Shimmura