The Maréchal Fayolle apartment cluster is located in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. Departing from traditional public housing designs, this complex features four irregularly shaped, fluid white towers that house over one hundred social housing units. The five-story buildings blend harmoniously with their surroundings, fostering a seamless connection with the local community.
The four apartment towers are elevated on pure white columns, enhancing visibility for residents on lower levels and maximizing safety. The raised first floor accommodates bicycle storage and stair access to upper levels. The entrance is framed by minimalist concrete and metal mesh elements. SANAA’s design emphasizes fluid forms that respect the scale and volume of neighboring buildings, ensuring the complex blends naturally into the existing urban fabric.
The building’s façade features scattered windows, adding a contemporary flair to its sleek exterior. Inside, the apartments showcase durable felt flooring and gently curved walls. Unit layouts range from studios to four-bedroom apartments, accommodating a variety of residents. Moreover, landscaped green spaces between the buildings connect the community to a street-facing park, offering outdoor areas for residents to enjoy.
This project is a collaboration between SANAA and the local firm Extra Muros, focusing on architectural and landscape design as part of the ‘Paris Habitat Plan’. Paris Habitat manages 124,000 social housing units in Paris and its surrounding areas. By law, 25% of housing must be social housing by 2025. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced plans to increase social housing units to 30% by 2030.
Project Drawings
▲ First Floor Plan
▲ Typical Floor Plan
▲ Elevation View
▲ Sectional View
▲ Section Details
Project Information
Project Type: Social Housing
Location: Paris, France
Architectural Design: SANAA
Area: 2,127 m²
Year: 2018
Lead Architects: Kazushi Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa
Design Team: Yoshitaka Tanase, Lucy Styles, Louis-Antoine Grego, Johanna Meyer-Grohbrugge, Hiroaki Katagiri, Nobuhiro Kitazawa, Takashi Suo, Guillaume Baron, Riccardo Cannatà, Margot Aurensan
Client: Paris Habitat
Local Architects: Extra Muros, Michel Levi, Antoine Saubot
Structural Design: SAPS/Sasaki & Partners, Mutsuro Sasaki, Yoshiyuki Hiraiwa, Ayumi Isozaki, Hideaki Hamada
Structural Engineer: Bollinger & Grohmann Ingenieure
Mechanical Engineer: BETOM Ingénierie
Environmental Consultant: EDEIS
Budget Consultant: Bureau Michel Forgue
Landscape Design: Extra Muros + SANAA
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