Studio Gang, the international architecture and urban design firm led by Jeanne Gang, has completed its first project in France: the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris. Serving as a European hub for scholarship and research in Paris’s 13th arrondissement, the new academic center is a gracious campus environment where intellectual work is enlivened with social activity and biodiverse habitat.
“The Center in Paris is designed as a vertical campus. Its multilevel atrium provides all the spaces with light and offers visual connections across programs,” said Jeanne Gang, Founding Partner of Studio Gang. “We wanted the building to amplify social interactions, scholarly collaborations, and cultural exchange between the University and the City of Paris.”
The Center is part of a new development that also includes a mixed-use residential building designed by PARC Architectes. Situated on a corner site in the rapidly developing Paris Rive Gauche neighborhood of the 13th arrondissement, the Center is the architectural centerpiece of the block.
The building’s defining feature is a brise soleil façade composed of approximately 900 cylindrical batons. The stone batons function as a filtering screen whose porosity responds to the program within, densifying around private spaces for study and research and opening to reveal activity in public and event spaces. Each baton is enrobed in Lutetian limestone, a stone that underlies much of the Paris region and has been a common local building material since antiquity. Limestone links the building to the University’s main campus in Chicago, where it is also a prominent building material, while simultaneously rooting it to the history of Paris.
The 25,460 sf (2,365 sqm) building is organized around a transparent central atrium (the “vertical campus”) that connects all of the Center’s learning, research, and social spaces and brings natural light deep into the interior. Outdoor spaces—including a shared courtyard, a loggia, and a series of terraces—provide places for socializing, study, and rest as well as access to nature and a habitat for urban wildlife. Nine classrooms, including a laboratory teaching space, support academic activities, while a research institute provides a home base for visiting academics.
On the top floor, a double-height event space with an adjoining biodiverse rooftop garden supports the Center’s role as a forum for intellectual exchange by bringing an airy atmosphere and sweeping views of the city to conferences, cultural events, and social gatherings. An amphitheater can similarly be configured to accommodate lectures, conferences, or large classes.
Beyond its walls, the building promotes a lively exchange between Parisians and University students and faculty by connecting transit users to a regional train station directly below and activating the streetscape with a newly commissioned artwork by Tony Lewis. The building’s lightweight structure rests atop a steel platform that bridges over the railway.
A range of environmental strategies help to minimize the project’s carbon footprint and cultivate biodiversity, from outdoor spaces planted with regionally specific species to the use of mass timber for a large portion of the building’s structure. Sourced and fabricated in France and Austria, the timber structure also cuts down on carbon-intensive transport emissions. Similarly, the stone for the façade’s batons were sourced from a quarry only 25 miles (40 km) from the site. Increased air circulation and natural ventilation are facilitated by the building’s vertical design and abundant outdoor spaces. With photovoltaic panels on the roof that generate clean energy on-site and reduce reliance on the energy grid, the building will also be connected to the district’s heating and cooling services for improved efficiency.
Since establishing a Paris office in 2017, Studio Gang has continued to broaden its work in Europe. The firm is designing a 600,000 square foot (56,000 square meter) mixed-use tower in Paris’s La Défense district. In 2022, Studio Gang completed its first building in Europe with Q Residences, a 300,000-square-foot (28,000-square-meter) housing community in Amsterdam. Studio Gang’s Paris office is co-led by Design Principals Ana Flor and Rodia Valladares, who bring nearly fifteen years of experience with Studio Gang to Paris.
The Center builds on the University of Chicago’s work with Studio Gang, which includes a 400,000-square-foot residential building on the University’s Chicago campus that was completed in 2016.
Team:
Design Architect: Studio Gang
Jeanne Gang, Founding Partner and Lead Designer
Mark Schendel, Managing Principal
Rodia Valladares, Design Principal
Julien Roy, Senior Project Leader
With Ana Flor, Arthur Liu, Thorsten Johann, Claude Labbe, Margaret Cavenagh, Paul Brechignac, Austin Edwards, Gabrielle Poirier, Alfred Klopper, Chris Bennett, Thanh Nguyen, Weiju Lai, Colleen Lyell, Lauren Eggert, Bryan Scheib, Alexia Cavazos, Anne-Virginie Sala, Luis Tejeda, Emily Licht
Client: ICADE Promotion
Client: The University of Chicago
Public Urban Developer: SEMAPA
Project Manager, MEP, Energy Performance Consultant, Cost Estimator: Artelia Group
Structural and Façade Consultant Elioth by Egis Group
Landscape Architect: OLM Paysagistes,
Sustainability Consultant: Egis Group
Acoustic Consultant: AVLS
Fire Security Consultant: CSD-FACES
Code and Life Safety Consultant: BTP Consultants
General Contractor: Spie Batignolles Outarex
Stone Contractor/Fabricator: Mineral Expertise
Wood Structure Contractor: Cuiller freres
Steel Structure Contractor: SMB
Photographer: Fabrice Fouillet, Corentin Lespagnol
Materials Used:
Structural System
Mass Timber Columns and Beams: KLH
Cross-Laminated Timber Panels: Weisrock Vosges SAS
Exterior Cladding
Metal/Glass Curtain Wall: HORIZONS
Wood Cladding: Lignalpes
Stone Screen Façade: Polycor France (Rocamat)
Windows
Metal Frame: WICONA
Glazing Glass: RIOU Glass
Doors
Wood Doors: Malerba
Interior Finishes
Acoustical Ceilings: Rockfon Blanka, Placo
Wood Wall Finishes: Oberflex, Laudescher, Lignotrend
Floor and Wall Tile: Arte Home
Resilient Flooring: Forbo
Carpet: Balsan
Wood Floor: Hakwood
Furnishings
Office Furniture: Steelcase
Lighting Interior
Ambient Lighting: Zumtobel, THORNeco
Exterior: DCW éditions
Conveyance Elevators/Escalators: Otis
Energy
Photovoltaic System: Sunpower Maxeon
