Former military barracks converted into a university. In the heart of Paris, the Architecture tells the story

Building a city on a city was the standard approach to urban renewal. Our modernity has largely ignored and further complicated this methodology which is now coming back even stronger due to the economic realities of construction challenged by the seriousness of environmental issues

Existing buildings, even beyond heritage considerations, are becoming a valuable means of saving money, a great opportunity to discover new uses resulting from the conversion. Entering a building with its past life and history, means imagining new stories to tell based on older stories

The project to transform the Lourcine barracks in the 13th arrondissement of Paris was ambitious and innovative, both in terms of its size and above all the new relationship it creates with the existing buildings. Although this had been a military site well before the French Revolution, it has remained in its current configuration since the end of the 19th century

The topography of the land in the Lourcine barracks has a flat area between the parade ground and Boulevard de Port Royal, which allows natural light to enter the basement floors of building 2 through large windows with a large foundation

Work on these buildings is carefully targeted and limited to the interior; the cladding remains almost intact apart from altering the dimensions of the doors to meet modern standards, but within the existing space the work has been designed to ensure that the rough finish leaves the existing structure visible as well as the nobility of the original materials