Studio Vincent Eschalier transforms a fragmented early 20th-century complex into a hybrid destination for sport, culture and work.
Facing Square Carpeaux in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, Studio Vincent Eschalier has completed the rehabilitation of La Montgolfière Paris 18, a 2,800 sqm hybrid destination combining sport, culture and coworking. More than a renovation, the project is a complete transformation of a dense and fragmented collection of early twentieth-century buildings into an open, vibrant environment designed for contemporary urban life.
Following the success of its first Paris location, La Montgolfière sought a second address capable of expressing its distinctive identity: a place where sport, wellbeing, culture and social interaction coexist within a singular spatial experience. Originally initiated by the investor Left Bank, the project found its true direction once its future operator became involved, allowing architecture and use to evolve in close dialogue.
The programme reflects this ambition through a carefully layered mix of functions. Nearly half of the total surface area is dedicated to sport and wellbeing, including six training studios for strength, boxing, yoga, cardio, stretching and cross-training. A lower-ground level houses wellness amenities including hammams, saunas, changing facilities and a solarium. Four floors of flexible office spaces—including coworking areas with outdoor terraces—complete the workspace offering, while at street level an audiophile café, equipped by vintage sound restoration specialist Hark, acts as a social anchor and public interface.
Lightening density to create openness
The existing site combined three independent structures: a 1925 industrial street-front building, a former townhouse and a photography studio dating from 1921. Years of additions and alterations had created an overbuilt and structurally complex condition, resulting in disconnected spaces and limited spatial quality.
Rather than maximizing floor area, Studio Vincent Eschalier chose to remove the least preserved building located at the centre of the block. This strategic act of subtraction created visual breathing space, opening the paved courtyard towards the adjacent park and introducing light, views and porosity deep into the site. In contrast to conventional development logic, the project prioritizes quality of experience over density.
The street-facing industrial building now benefits from multiple visual connections toward the city, courtyard and surrounding landscape. Its architectural significance lies in one of Paris’ early examples of a hybrid structural system combining concrete and steel columns and beams. Preserving and adapting this structure required a highly precise intervention, including 140 micropiles stabilizing foundations over historic gypsum quarries, alongside specially designed “airfoil” beams optimizing ceiling heights while preserving spatial continuity.
A collective place embedded in its neighbourhood
Previously inward-looking and fragmented, the site has become a visible urban destination and a new social catalyst within the residential fabric of Montmartre. Open towards both the street and the park, the project transforms a closed compound into an active place of encounter and exchange.
The workspaces adopt a domestic design language softened by raw materiality. Organized around an exposed concrete frame and enclosed by nearly 80% glazing, the offices balance comfort with architectural clarity, extending onto an outdoor terrace at the second floor.
Selected in 2022 among forty projects for the exhibition Conserver, Adapter, Transmettre at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, La Montgolfière embodies a contemporary approach to rehabilitation—one that preserves the memory of existing structures while enabling new forms of collective use.
Architecture and design conceived as a whole
Studio Vincent Eschalier led the architectural rehabilitation in close collaboration with La Montgolfière, while MVE-Collection—the studio’s design branch—developed nearly the entire interior design and furniture strategy.
Several bespoke pieces from the Opus collection in solid concrete—including the reception desk, benches, washbasins and vanity units—were integrated throughout the project as direct extensions of the building’s structural language. Pieces from the aluminium AL13 collection, including café tables and table lamps, together with the suspended SLS linear lighting system, complete the design vocabulary.
Carefully sourced vintage furniture and restored lighting fixtures reinforce the singular identity of the space. Raw concrete, stainless steel, wood and glass establish a restrained and contemporary palette, complemented by La Montgolfière’s signature deep green tones and dark cork accents. Flooring throughout the yoga studio, changing rooms, fitness areas, coworking spaces and café was developed with La Parqueterie Nouvelle.
After six months of demolition works, two years of construction and eight months of user fit-out, La Montgolfière emerges as a project at the intersection of architecture, wellbeing and culture: an inclusive destination designed to foster interaction, movement and community.
