the concrete façades of LAN's student residences in paris relay stories of greek mythology

the ‘grand paris’ project aims to transform the french capital’s metropolitan area into a 21st century city, while confirming its ranking among competing international megacities. as part of the ambitious masterplan, LAN (local architecture network) has designed a residential complex for students that contains 900 units. spanning two urban development zones, the école polytechnique district and the moulon district, the project seeks to set a new country-wide standard for such facilities.

all images by fabrice fouillet

LAN, who designed the scheme in collaboration with clément vergély architectes and landscape firm topotek, saw the brief as an opportunity to reconcile architecture and landscape. consequently, the project is based on a simple idea: densifying the edge of the plot to create a park at the center. three black buildings, containing 70% of the residences, are positioned linearly at the perimeter of the site, while five cylindrical structures within the park contain the remainder of the program.

these five buildings, known as the ‘muses’, reference greek antiquity and the ornamental gardens of the early 18th century. clad with exposed, prefabricated concrete, the cylinders reveal photo-engraved images of greek mythology. internally, vertical circulation routes are positioned at the center, with each storey containing 14 residences that measure 18.5 square meters (200 sqf) each. meanwhile, the peripheral buildings offer various types of accommodation.

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project info:

name: saclay – student residence
architecture firm: LAN architecture
completion year: 2018
gross built area: 25,346 sqm
project location: ZAC du moulon, gif-sur-yvette
, france
photography: fabrice fouillet

lead architects: LAN, clément vergély architectes, topotek
design team: giovanna pasinelli, marcello orlandini, dorothée riou, maxime enrico, lisa taibi
clients: linkcity
engineering: bouygues construction
landscape: topotek
consultants: franck boutté consultants (HQE)