Construction de bureaux, Boulevard Ney

In northern Paris, an office building on Boulevard Ney — conceived as a building rehabilitation and extension — marks a key gateway to the capital. Its façade composition, structural system, and material palette, together with a vegetated roof, establish a clear architectural identity while ensuring integration within a constrained rail-side context. The façade’s modulation supports flexible fit-out and optimizes daylight access for future occupants.

Framed by SNCF rail corridors to the northwest and south, the scheme of the civic architect aligns the new volume along Boulevard Ney. At Porte de la Chapelle, it contributes to the area’s regeneration, its elongated linear frontage asserting a strong urban edge. The northwest corner of the building rehabilitation resolves in a faceted, glazed curve, prefiguring the southern elevation facing the future Chapelle Charbon park.

From Boulevard Ney, the façade of the building rehabilitation is expressed as a timber-and-glass assembly, articulated by continuous chestnut spandrels that reinforce horizontality. Regularly spaced aluminium frames, both fixed and operable, are set between these bands. On the south and east elevations, terracotta slip cladding on external insulation reinterprets the existing fabric through a subtle tonal gradient, lightening toward the upper levels. The building rehabilitation adopts a low-carbon structural strategy, with timber floor construction comprising CLT slabs, solid wood beams and joists, as well as glulam columns at both façade and core. The civic architect integrated photovoltaic panels to a vegetated roof, while the continuous balconies on the upper floors, formed through successive setbacks in response to the zoning envelope defined by the local planning regulations (PLU), are also enhanced with extensive planted landscaping.