Hotel Lyf, Paris

In 2020, we won the competition to transform the former Cité Press printing works in the Gambetta district: a comprehensive, low-carbon refurbishment with over 50% of the existing floor space retained. The architectural approach reflects the industrial vocation of the site, which has been a craftsman's house since 1915, a boiler works and a printing works since the 1980s. On the street side, the existing concrete panel façade concealed a steel structure. This has been removed and replaced by a light facade that highlights the main body of the former industrial building, raised four storeys. The structure of the long “machine hall” is made of concrete. Its retained elements remain visible, while the new ones are left unfinished. On this plot, which is stretched out in the depth of the block, an entire level is dug out to create a garden level onto which a coworking space and a café open to the public can be opened. The glass roof was demolished to make way for a garden, while the spines of the aluminum courtyard façade play with the light to better preserve the privacy of the rooms. More picture of the site before transformation here.