Type: Direct commission
Location: Entrepôt MacDonald, Boulevard MacDonald, Paris, France
Brief: Housing (42 apartments)
Client: SNS Paris Macdonald Promotion
Area: 3,513 m²
Mission: supervision only during construction phase. Mission does not include interior fittings.
Phase / Status: Built
Architects: Mia Hägg, Sandrine Forais until 2011
Executive architects during construction phase: ad lib architecture, Félix Medina

Project managers: Félix Medina, Julie Heyde (concept design)
Team members: Christian Bernhardt, Adrien Durrmeyer, Laure Frachet, Gustav Hultman, Nicolas Métro, Lina Lagerström, Aude Lerpinière
Consultants:
Structure / MEP: Arcoba
Facades: DVVD
Sustainability (HQE): Alto
Acoustics: Acouphen
Technical inspection: Socotec
Masterplan / Urban design: OMA, Rotterdam, Holland
Coordination: XDGA, Floris Alkemade

Photographer: Philippe Ruault
ENTREPÔT MACDONALD
Housing

The somewhat dubious distinction of being the longest building in Paris belongs to a warehouse, built in 1970 in the north of the city, which runs for 616 m along Boulevard MacDonald. The firm OMA was commissioned by the city in 2007 to create a masterplan for the building’s reuse as a commercial base topped with mixed-use housing and office space. In 2008, ten architects were selected to create individual projects based on the masterplan, and Habiter Autrement was allocated a volume of 30 m x 30 m x 24 m, at the main entrance near the middle of the building, in which to make 42 apartments.

For residential units, the masterplan prescribed a large number of single-sided apartments around a central
core. Searching for a creative way to improve on this standard social-housing formula, Habiter Autrement instead proposed stacking double-height lofts around a U-shaped courtyard, allowing for dual-aspect spaces. The large volume and ample natural light of the resulting apartments is quite different from the small rooms and narrow corridors that characterize many social housing projects, and interior circulation areas are kept to a minimum to maximize the living space. Along the south facade, the floors are shifted laterally, in order to open loggias and terraces and to create generous, protected outdoor spaces. The facade is constructed of sliding aluminium panels, some of which are micro-perforated, allowing natural light to filter into the apartments even when the panels are closed.

Download Drawings
DETAILS
HIDE DETAILS
Type: Direct commission
Location: Entrepôt MacDonald, Boulevard MacDonald, Paris, France
Brief: Housing (42 apartments)
Client: SNS Paris Macdonald Promotion
Area: 3,513 m²
Mission: supervision only during construction phase. Mission does not include interior fittings.
Phase / Status: Built
Architects: Mia Hägg, Sandrine Forais until 2011
Executive architects during construction phase: ad lib architecture, Félix Medina

Project managers: Félix Medina, Julie Heyde (concept design)
Team members: Christian Bernhardt, Adrien Durrmeyer, Laure Frachet, Gustav Hultman, Nicolas Métro, Lina Lagerström, Aude Lerpinière
Consultants:
Structure / MEP: Arcoba
Facades: DVVD
Sustainability (HQE): Alto
Acoustics: Acouphen
Technical inspection: Socotec
Masterplan / Urban design: OMA, Rotterdam, Holland
Coordination: XDGA, Floris Alkemade

Photographer: Philippe Ruault
FEATURED PROJECTS