Rethinking housing from the inside out: a new generation of social and private housing, where the dwelling adapts to its inhabitants – and not the other way around.
START-Ivry sets out to redefine housing culture. It rejects the prevailing standardisation of housing production and responds to the growing diversity of contemporary lifestyles. It rethinks housing from the inside — starting from the resident — restoring the central role of the floor plan, and boldly reversing the conventional process by starting with architecture: the architect is selected first, and developers are then invited to compete. START embodies a genuine paradigm shift.
START stands for Social, Transformable, Affordable and Resilient Typologies — housing solutions that respond to contemporary life. Located in Ivry-sur-Seine, a city historically linked to architectural innovation, START paves the way for a new cycle of experimentation in housing. START is both a manifesto and a demonstration: it proves that much better housing can be achieved without increasing surface areas and within very constrained budgets. A pilot project. A vanguard.
Households today are increasingly diverse and dynamic — single-parent families, blended households, elderly residents requiring assistance, remote workers — while housing has remained largely standardized and rigid, serving developer logic more than the realities of life. START address this mismatch by creating housing that adapts to its inhabitants: dwellings can be enlarged in anticipation of a child; a kitchen relocated to make an extra bedroom; children’s rooms transformed into a studio; or a neighbouring unit purchased to extend the current one. Even in its initial state, the dwelling already accommodates a wide range of users and situations, placing residents at the heart of design.
START comprises five buildings totaling 288 dwellings, including social, intermediate, and market-rate housing, arranged to create a new urban skyline along the Seine and Marne rivers in Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris.
The project offers a wide range of typologies, from studios to five-bedroom homes, including intermediate “plus” and “bonus” types. These are structured around three complementary frameworks: the 10 Adaptability Principles ensuring flexibility over time (divisible dwellings, groupable units, movable kitchens, balcony “plugs”, alcoves, modular rooms, etc.); the 8 Quality Principles ensuring spatial quality (double/triple orientation, naturally lit kitchens and bathrooms, usable outdoor space); and the 10 Principles for a Good Tower defining a positive, desirable density well integrated into its context.
Housing quality determines building form. The exceptional slenderness of the five towers (14 m depth, up to 56 m high) maximises natural light, ventilation, and views — 90% of dwellings look towards the Seine/Marne, 88% have double orientation, and 30% triple orientation.
Window positions, balconies, recessed loggias, and colour accents emerge from interior logic, generating façades that are varied yet meaningful. Concrete and red-painted surfaces reference Ivry’s architectural heritage, while colour coding reveals internal typologies.
Sustainability is approached broadly: a 20% reduction in energy use, low-carbon concrete for structure and façades, geothermal heating — and above all, spatial resilience. Homes can evolve over decades addressing social, environmental, and economic sustainability at once.
The project was made possible by the pioneering “Inverse Method”: the architect was selected first to draft the brief, and developers were then invited to compete in ateliers over eight months, based on the architect’s project.
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START-Ivry by STAR strategies + architecture
– Name: START-Ivry
– Location: Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris
– Date: 2015 – 2025 (finishing works ongoing)
– Architect: Beatriz Ramo / STAR strategies + architecture — Author: Beatriz Ramo López de Angulo — Project Lead: Danae Zachariaki — Team: Efraín Pérez Del Barrio, Ivan Guerrero, Geoffrey Clamour, Syeva Roest, Javier Cuartero, Bittor Arrillaga, Maria Castillo, Iris Ramas, Marc Coma
– Landscape / public space: Bernd Upmeyer / BOARD, Bureau of Architecture, Research and Design
– Programme – Surface area: 22,863 m² NFA, including 19,701 m² of housing (≈53% private housing, ≈33% social housing and ≈13.5% intermediate housing) – 288 dwellings (up to 350 after possible subdivision); 3,163 m² NFA retail; 2,600 m² outdoor spaces at ground level; 2,000 m² outdoor spaces at upper levels
– Construction cost (2020): €43,367,730 excl. VAT
– Client – Developer: Phase 1: SADEV 94; Phase 2: SOGEPROM Réalisations
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ANNEXE I: Sustainability: what is the point of climate-adapted housing if housing is not adapted to the people who live in it?
START achieves a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared to current standards and uses 20% low-carbon concrete for both structure and façades, reducing materials and embodied carbon. Heating is provided by geothermal energy.
But START goes far beyond environmental performance. Today, a building can collect “green” certifications while failing to respond to the realities of contemporary life. START reintroduces a dimension often forgotten in sustainability debates: the inhabitant and their evolving spatial needs.
The current obsession with labelling makes unmeasurable issues secondary: an adult child moving back in, a live-in carer, empty bedrooms after children leave, the difficulties of a single parent, a divorce, a blended family, remote work… Housing must adapt to these real-life situations to be truly sustainable.
START places the inhabitant at the heart of design, integrating the social and economic dimensions into sustainability. Divisible dwellings, super-adaptable homes, and “plus” or “bonus” typologies are proof. For example, a divisible dwelling (≥ 3 bedrooms) embodies all three pillars:
- Social: adapts to changing spatial household needs.
- Environmental: creates a new dwelling without consuming extra resources.
- Economic: generates additional income through renting or selling the new unit.
ANNEXE II: Inverse Method: challenging the status quo
Defying convention, START-Ivry began thanks to a pioneering process — the Inverse Method — devised by the municipal land developer and refined with the architect. Contrary to standard practice, the architect was selected first — based on a methodological proposal, not simply visual renderings — and the developers were then invited to compete based on the architect’s project. The brief was therefore not written by the developer, but by the architect.
For eight months, monthly design workshops brought together all stakeholders — the land manager, the architect, the municipality, urban planners, future developers (with their contractors and consultants) — around a shared project. All aspects were addressed collectively: design, construction, management, lifestyles...
The winning developer was selected for their ability to align with the architect’s project. The architect’s contract was transferred to them, while the land manager retained an active role to ensure continuity, embedding the design principles into the sale agreement and safeguarding the architect’s central role. Without the Inverse Method, START simply could not have come into being.
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ANNEXE III: START-Ivry Prizes-Selection
- SPECIAL MENTION in the Architizer A+ Awards 2025 in the "Affordable Housing" category;
- WINNER of both Jury’s and People’s Choice Awards in the AZ Awards 2025 in the "Urban Design - Built developments" category;
- WINNER of the Prize ARVHA Femmes d’Architecture in the category «Œuvre original», https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmKuK9RHTQ&t=2s ;
- FINALIST in the Matilde Baffa Ugo Rivolta European Award 2025 for Social Housing (ongoing);
- WINNER in the DNA Paris Design Awards 2025 in the category "Housing";
- FINALIST in the BCIA British Construction and Infrastructure Awards 2025 in the "International Project" category (ongoing);
- WINNER of Batiactu Reader’s Award in the Trophées de la Construction 2025;
- Shortlisted in the AHA Architecture Hunter 2025 in the "Public & Urban Design", "Social Housing" and "High Rise Buildings" categories (ongoing);
- WINNER of the Prize Défis Urbains Innovapresse, in the category «Modes d’habiter»;
- WINNER of the Prize Classement des Promoteurs Innovapresse in the category «Réversibilité / modularité».
