The Frédéric Chopin Conservatory, located in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, has been restructured for the second time, embodying the shift in architectural challenges towards the frugal transformation of existing buildings. How can urban and architectural actions be coordinated in city centres? How can intervention be limited to what makes sense? How can we move away from standardised materials and integrate reuse into architectural design?  

In the 1970s, slab urbanism was still in vogue. Bernard Zherfuss, who designed the CNIT in La Défense, imagined a micro-slab integrated into the Parisian fabric. He decided to conceal the conservatory under this slab and to reveal only a small entrance pavilion. The plan worked, but at the cost of classrooms under the slab, like in a basement, and particularly anxiety-inducing residual outdoor spaces. An initial extension in 1995 did not change anything; it would take a long urban project to reposition the conservatory in its Parisian context.

The first step was therefore urban, carried out by the landlord Paris Habitat and the City of Paris. This involved initiating, financing and coordinating the demolition of the slab and the redevelopment of the outdoor spaces.

In 2023, the conservatory will lose its access via the slab and will be relocated one floor below, with a new entrance and finally unobstructed façades. The construction work on the surrounding public space will take place at the same time as that on the conservatory, and it is under these conditions that the conservatory's third life will begin.

The programme accompanies the increase in student numbers and the evolution of teaching practices. It provides for the renovation of existing spaces and a detailed restructuring of the hall and internal functions. The new parts are reduced to 300m² and include the creation of new classrooms, a dance studio and a rehearsal room for the orchestra. All the fittings and fine-tuning of the functionalities will be developed in consultation with users throughout the studies. 

The architectural project is based on a careful reading of this chaotic operational, urban and functional context in order to create a coherent and functional whole. The aim is not to create a perfect facility, but to achieve a form of accuracy, to make do with what is available and to reinterpret it in a clear way.

Bernard Zehrfuss' original plinth, long hidden beneath walkways and integrated into the slab, was revealed by urban redevelopment and then restored and adapted by the architectural project. It is simply opened up from east to west by the new hall, and one of its two patios is covered to accommodate the new dance studio.

At the rear of the base, the massive auditorium is a legacy of the 1995 extension. With its new mineral façade, it asserts the conservatory's presence on Rue Mathurin Régnier. This new façade is made up of 30,000 cement pavers recovered from the public space development site at the foot of the building... In the landscape, the paving stones take on the appearance of bricks and seem to invite the materiality of the neighbouring Haussmannian buildings into the heart of the modern block. The V-shape of the interlocking paving stones gives the façade an inimitable texture that captures the light and, for the architects, evokes the egg boxes of makeshift studios. Careful layout conceals the horizontal chains to give more mass to the whole. The irregularity and patina of the cement, trampled on for almost fifty years, adds a timeless dimension.

Before considering the physicality of these nesting boxes, made by children in the Carrousel workshops, the architects thought about the sound of birdsong in the early morning and how this music-dedicated equipment could contribute to the urban soundscape.

The entrance is marked by a light structure, woven with wood and adorned with white limestone, which has also been reused.

 Extracted in the 1980s, installed on the Ampère secondary school in Marseille and stored in 2022, these stones are fixed to a wooden frame using a glazing bead system, approved by ATEx. This technique, rustic but effective, paves the way for the standardisation of stone cladding reuse in future projects.

Reused materials are not simply tolerated; they contribute to the implementation of a controlled architectural approach, designed for a specific context. 

Thermal performance is also a key issue. The project meets the requirements of the City of Paris Climate Plan. Improving the performance of the building envelope has enabled a complete refurbishment of the façades, while integrating natural ventilation, including in classrooms where acoustics are sensitive. A delicate balance between comfort, performance and constructive sobriety.

With controlled economy of means, the project succeeds in bringing together three eras of construction – concrete (1976), steel (1995) and wood (2025) – in a clear, open approach that is resolutely focused on reuse. It works with the resources of the site, without exaggeration, but with precision and inventiveness.

Beyond its environmental performance, the conservatory offers a humble and meaningful architecture, capable of setting a precedent: a building transformed without being erased, enriched by its successive layers, adapted to its contemporary uses and ready to evolve again.