French architecture
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about french architecture
News • News • 21 Mar 2024
Vurpas Architectes converts former brick and concrete market into light-filled primary school in Lyon
The Eugénie Brazier school project in Lyon, France, undertaken by regional architecture studio Vurpas Architectes, involved the rehabilitation and extension of a former wholesale market into a nursery, pre-school and primary school. Situated at the heart of the quartier de la Confluence, an evolving sustainable development, the project is part of a revitalization effort meant to upgrade a former industrial area at the southern tip of the city’s peninsula. Here, where the Saône and Rhône rivers meet, a host of new buildings, shops, parks and cultural programs create a dynamic new urban center.
Vladimir de Mollerat du Jeu
The existing structure is set on a large site of sixteen hectares and was built in the... More
News • News • 20 Mar 2024
K-Architectures employs local maritime pine to complete stadium complex in southwestern France
Paris-based K-Architectures has recently completed the renovation and expansion of the Pierre-Paul Bernard stadium in Talence, a suburb of Bordeaux in southwestern France. The stadium is celebrated as the site of a world record-breaking performance in the decathlon as well as the annual host of Bordeaux’s largest sporting attraction, a decathlon event receiving some 15,000 spectators annually.
The Pierre-Paul Bernard stadium was initially constructed in 1976 within the protected 60-hectare forest known as Bois de Thouars. In 2016 the municipality of Bordeaux selected K-Architectures to modernize the stadium's track and grandstands while introducing a new 4,000 square meter sports complex and maintenance facilities.
Guillau... More
News • News • 20 Mar 2024
Rebirth of the Convent Saint-François: Architecture finalist in Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024
In this Archello series, we look at each of the seven nominated projects (five architecture finalists and two emerging finalists) in the Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024.
Rebirth of the Convent Saint-François
Thibaut Dini
Amelia Tavella Architectes has completed the rehabilitation and extension of the 15th century Convent Saint-François in the village of Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano on the island of Corsica. Built in 1480, the abandoned convent, set in the wild Corsican landscape in the southern part of the mountainous island, had fallen into partial ruin. Amelia Tavella sought to restore the historical monument in a way that honors the remnants of its past. Converting the building into a Maison du Territoire &mdash... More
News • News • 29 Feb 2024
RAUM completes the meticulous rehabilitation and extension of a community swimming pool
French architectural studio RAUM architectes has completed the meticulous rehabilitation and extension of a community swimming pool in Saint-Méen-le-Grand, a town in Brittany, France. The studio’s design marries old and new to create a unitary whole.
Charles Bouchaïb
Charles Bouchaïb
Built in 1994, the swimming pool was subsequently renovated and extended on several occasions — in 2008, 2013, and 2015. The original architecture consists of masonry elevations, a wooden frame, and a slate roof: “It does not particularly dissociate itself from the dominant local construction method by asserting itself as a suburban construction,” says RAUM. The pool’s successive extensions did n... More
News • News • 16 Feb 2024
Studio Razavi Architecture designs a Parisian apartment building that promotes urban densification
Paris-based Studio Razavi Architecture has completed 93 Petit, a residential apartment building in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.
Schnepp Renou
Reflecting on the premise of 93 Petit, Studio Razavi comments: “Regardless of their size, all buildings in urban contexts contribute to the greater morphology that ultimately defines a city. The larger the project, the more the architect [is] under pressure to sensibly balance land use ratio and design.” To combat urban sprawl, cities are increasingly looking at ways in which to adopt planning policies that foster a greater degree of urban densification. This approach increases housing stock within a city and helps to reduce carbon emissions. Urban densification promotes the... More
News • News • 8 Feb 2024
Atelier Archiplein adds an impressive open stone gallery in the restoration of a Capuchin convent
Geneva-based architecture and urbanism firm Atelier Archiplein has completed the restoration and transformation of a historic Capuchin convent in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, a region in eastern France. Dating back to the 18th century, the convent’s buildings have been reappropriated for use as an artist residence. Atelier Archiplein’s careful approach to the restoration establishes a connection between the convent’s living spaces, its facades, and cobbled courtyard via new monumental openings. On the garden side, an impressive open gallery made from Hauteville limestone (from Plateau d’Hauteville in eastern France) connects the convent’s north wing with the landscape.
11h45
Built in several stages... More
News • News • 7 Feb 2024
Pointed bricks enhance the facade and presence of a new housing and retail project in Romainville
Paris-based PietriArchitectes has completed Le Totem, a housing project and four shops in Romainville, a town in the eastern suburbs of Paris. A facade of light-colored, specially shaped pointed bricks gives the building a textured and crafted appearance, enhancing its presence.
Hugo Hébrard
Le Totem is described by PietriArchitectes as “the new face of the entrance to Romainville” and is a short distance from the Mairie des Lilas Paris Métro station. Part of the urban renewal of several districts on the outskirts of Paris, the town bears witness to “the vitality and renewal of the Paris Region.” PietriArchitectes designed Le Totem as a landmark in the vicinity and a link with the Youri Gagari... More
News • News • 1 Feb 2024
Vallet de Martinis architectes carves a cavernous interior into a monolithic new academic building in France
ESIEE, a French university for management and information technology studies, has opened a modern and monolithic new complex in the town of Pontoise, northwest of Paris. The school is sited along a major urban thoroughfare in a context that includes public facilities, commerce, industrial buildings and a residential neighborhood. The terrain is sloped and the new building offers perspectives that open onto the surrounding landscape, towards the church of Pontoise and the old city.
Vallet de Martinis Architectes
Vallet de Martinis Architectes designed the compact academic building to be a place of exchange and learning that can offer students, teachers and members of the administration welcoming spaces that are both intimate and co... More
News • News • 23 Jan 2024
School in Noisy-le-Grand by r2k architecte blends progressive environmental and educational design principles
Oiseau Lyre, a school in the French commune of Noisy-le-Grand, is exploring a Finnish-inspired pedagogical method of learning. Designed by Grenoble-based r2k architecte, Oiseau Lyre is an energy-positive building made from wood that offers a diversity of shared spaces. The school provides a framework for active pedagogies — active learning — based on cognitive research.
ERIETA ATTALI
ERIETA ATTALI
The spatial design of Oiseau Lyre includes introducing the latest educational expertise of Nordic schools alongside lessons learned from Lab-École — this Quebec “School-Lab” initiative is based on a combination of physical environment, physical activity and well-being, and nutrition. Nordic p... More
News • News • 28 Dec 2023
Amelia Tavella Architectes completes an elongated school of stone fitted to the contours of its hillside site
Aix-en-Provence-based Amelia Tavella Architectes has completed a 2300 square meter kindergarten and primary school in nearby Cabriès, southern France. Made with an envelope of natural stone, concrete and elements of oak wood, the two-story building is embedded into the base of a hill, on a site some 50 meters from the local town hall where the grade flattens out and opens onto green fields to the south.
Amelia Tavella Architectes
The so-called Fossil Building is a project meant to evoke a sense of having been unearthed from the hillside, as if it had been built prior to the construction of the old town yet only just now discovered. Its stone cladding has been chosen to match the color of the surrounding landscape, allowing... More
News • News • 13 Dec 2023
Nursery educational facilities in Fontenay-sous-Bois form part of a major urban renewal scheme
Paris-based Arc.Ame - L’AgenceFRANÇAISE has completed a group of nursery educational facilities in Fontenay-sous-Bois, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris. The project is part of a major urban renewal scheme in Fontenay-sous-Bois that aims to create links between the commune’s Larris and Redoute districts and Val de Fontenay rail station.
Sergio Grazia
The completed program includes a new pedestrian mall that serves the construction of a nursery, elementary school, and Agence de protection Maternelle Infantile (PMI) — Maternal and Child Protection Agency — crèche. These facilities are part of a cohesive urban redevelopment plan that seeks to enhance the quality of life for children.... More
Project • By Gabrielle Vinson Architecte • Private Houses
2005_MNB
The project pertains to the renovation of a small family house in Toulouse. Despite its dated and somewhat run-down appearance, the house benefits from a five-meter wide parcel, which allows for a structure made of beams and hollow-core slabs, thus offering easy open-plan possibilities.
gabrielle vinson
gabrielle vinson
gabrielle vinson
gabrielle vinson
On the ground floor, the garage is removed, and the veranda and its utility room are demolished. On the street side, a new glass block wall set back from the façade creates a buffer zone from the street and sidewalk, providing space for bikes and containers. The interior space is reduced to improve habitability and give the garden more magnitude. To the east, a la... More
News • News • 25 Oct 2023
Cosmocité science center in Pont-de-Claix preserves the industrial memory of its location
French architectural studio Arcane Architectes (based in Grenoble) and Canadian architectural studio Cardin Julien (based in Montréal) worked in partnership on the design of Cosmocité, a new science center in Pont-de-Claix (a municipality of Grenoble-Alpes Métropole). Cosmocité is constructed on the site of “Les Grand Moulins de Villancourt” — a former water mill that has marked the industrial heritage of Pont-de-Claix since 1869. Located at Pont-de-Claix’s northern entrance, Cosmocité is considered the “cultural cornerstone” of the municipality’s urban renewal.
Nicolas Trouillard
Unable to be reused, the old mill was demolished in 2019. Aiming to preserv... More
News • News • 2 Oct 2023
University of Strasbourg opens a new planetarium clad in burnt wood
A new planetarium has opened its doors in the heart of the University of Strasbourg. The “Planétarium du Jardin des Sciences” was designed by Paris-based architectural studio Frenak+Jullien in association with Cardin Julien (associate architects) and M+ Mathieu Holdrinet (project architect). Set in a newly redesigned garden, the planetarium consists of two bold geometric volumes: a truncated cone houses a 138-seat projection room and entrance gallery; an adjoining cylindrical volume comprises the reception and related service facilities of the Jardin des Sciences.
Maxime Delvaux
Maxime Delvaux
The “Jardin des Sciences” — Science Garden — is a cultural district of the University o... More
News • News • 27 Sep 2023
CoBe designs a mixed-use development as part of an urban renewal program
Multidisciplinary architecture and design firm CoBe has completed the design and construction of the Laherrère center, a mixed-use development in Pau (a commune overlooking the Pyrenees in southern France). In the heart of Pau’s Saragosse district, an area undergoing major urban redevelopment, CoBe, in collaboration with partner architect WEEK, built two buildings that comprise housing for students and young workers, office and training spaces, craft premises, shops, and services.
Luc Boegly
Luc Boegly
Built in the 1950s and 1960s, the Saragosse neighborhood is a large social housing district with around 14,000 inhabitants. An urban renewal project identified the area as having great social fragility: low-ren... More