Project Details:
Location: Paris, France
Type: Offices
Task: Transformation of the façades and office floors’ refurbishment of an existing office building
Area: 2 570 m2 SDP
Architects: PARC Architectes
Photographer: Thomas Lang
The office building is situated in the 11th district of Paris, in the heart of a very dense urban fabric. Its principal façade is oriented towards a courtyard. The office can be accessed by going through the porch of a first building facing the avenue Parmentier.
The original building dates back to the end of the 19th century and was expanded in the 1970s to create a patio. The project transforms the façades facing the courtyard and the patio in order to adapt office space to contemporary needs of comfort, light and heat.
Windows by the courtyard
Typical of the parisian context, the building’s situation demands to largely open the existing office floors towards daylight in order to enlighten the courtyard. Façades and joinery from the original building were removed.
The new facades, largely glazed with wooden window frames, are installed facing the courtyard and the patio. They allow to achieve transparency and porosity in a tight and constrained space, therefore eliminating the initial confinement feeling. Not only do they allow a maximum amount of light, but the new façades also ensure thermal isolation for the future workspaces.
Wood Sequencing
Aluminium facades from the 1970s expansion were designed without any consideration of harmony with the existing building. They are replaced by wooden façades designed to resume the sequencing of the original facades. Vertical mounts resume the lines found on the 19th century construction.
The new composition marks vertically, while railing at the sills draws fine horizontal lines. Black lacquered metal strengthen the wooden structure and also animate the facade’s rhythm.
