Rooflight patio & restaurant - CIRN Nanterre

A former office building is being transformed into a student residence with 500 housing units. The inner courtyard will become a multipurpose space with glass roofs in a greenhouse style and facades. We are constructing the primary structure using steel and connecting it to the existing building. Aluminum and glass will be installed on this steel structure.

Nanterre, an extra-muros district of the capital Paris, is an office district in the extension of 'La Défense'. Paris has a high demand for affordable housing. This project is a former large office building that is being converted into housing. The building covers the entire surface between 4 streets. The open space that serves as the building's courtyard will be given a design that should radiate peace and coziness with a garden and an architectural volume that should become the jewel of the project.

A glass house with communal areas for the well-being of the residents will be built in this open space. This will include a dining facility, a fitness and leisure area.

To make this volume pleasant and livable, the designers took their inspiration from a conservatory. This conservatory is fully designed according to energy standards with double glazing and thermally broken profiles. The glazing of the facades is also staggered to give the residents a greater sense of homeliness.

The conservatory volumes with 3 irregular roofs connect to the existing buildings. It is quite a challenge to connect this new structure of steel, aluminum and glass at different levels to existing concrete structures.

It will be an oasis of peace and transparency that stands in stark contrast to the stately high-rise buildings that surround this courtyard.