Lozaits-Seguin ESAT

WOOD WORKSHOPS IN THE HEART OF A POPULAR NEIGHBORHOOD

• Architects

In January 2024, the DREAM AGENCY inaugurated the Lozaits-Seguin Work Assistance Establishment and Services (ESAT) in Villejuif (Grand Paris - France). A social and solidarity-based project, the 3,570 m² facility welcomes over 150 people with disabilities in a comfortable, bright, and adapted environment.

photo_credit © Cyrille Weiner — © Cyrille Weiner

URBAN CONTEXT

This project is part of a New Urban Renewal Program (NPNRU) sector led by the Grand Orly Seine Bièvre territorial public establishment (EPT) and the city of Villejuif. Located in a priority urban policy district, it contributes to the urban redevelopmentof the northern part of the Lozaits area.

The ESAT Lozaits-Seguin is set in a park of local species, with century-old trees preserved to punctuate the landscape. It contains several creative and shaping workshops, a cafeteria, logistics areas and offices. It illustrates the approach adopted by the DREAM agency in popular neighborhoods, where the use of wood in both structure and materiality helps avoid the predominance of concrete in these areas.

AN ARCHITECTURE DESIGNED AROUND WELL-BEING AND HEALTH

To meet the needs of a sensitive public, the architectural design focused on the ergonomics of the spaces to promote mental well-being. This resulted in a layout of the workshops without corridors, emphasizing the influx of natural light and transparency, with a maximum choice of exposed wood.

The production hub and its workshops, the nerve center of the ESAT, offer an identifiable building with a conspicuous silhouette and natural materials at the heart of the neighborhood. Workshops are multi-purpose, open and evolving spaces, designed with adaptable ceiling heights to evolve and be modulated as needed. They are bathed in natural light. To address well-being and comfort challenges, special attention was given to acoustics, whose psychosomatic impact is often underestimated.

An interior wood fiber coating was used to provide visual and aesthetic comfort as well as thermal and acoustic comfort. The shed roof allows north light to enter each workshop. Beyond the reassuring warmth of the omnipresent wood, this unique architectural treatment offers the ESAT comfortable and bright workspaces while avoiding summer overheating.

The logistics spaces, on the other hand, offer a hybrid covered area that facilitates movement and encounters. User feedback on the psychosomatic effects of exposed wood is unequivocal: its impact on the sense of well-being and concentration is beneficial.