Barrault Pressacco

The Paris Rive Gauche project is the most important urban transformation in Paris in the past fifty years. From the Gare d'Austerlitz to the Boulevard Périphérique, this gigantic urban development overlooks infrastructures, connects the 13th arrondissement with the Seine and creates new urban forms and public spaces. First solid load-bearing stone building to reach 50 meters height in France, the project rises firmly into the sky of Paris. It addresses both the capital's historic architectural heritage through its materiality, restraint and regularity, and its future by its verticality which limits its footprint and carbon impact. Its hybrid construction system, made of solid stone from local quarries and wood and hemp from the Essonne region, provides thickness, depth and protection to the architecture. In tune with its period, the flexibility of the spaces and the fine articulation between the intimate and collective spheres ensure the durability of the building beyond its robustness. Each of the flats follows the same principle of assembling four rooms of identical proportions: a kitchen, a dining room, a living room and a loggia. These four spaces combine to form a 40 m2 unit, allowing for a wide variety of uses and spatial arrangements. Environmental comfort is paired with comfort of use, as the flats are all equipped with a loggia. The building follows the Parisian model by hosting housing on the upper floors and shops and a sports-leisure area on the ground floors.