Bouygues and David Chipperfield chosen for first Reinventing Paris scheme

Parisian developer Emerige has selected a team that includes Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France, David Chipperfield Architects and CALQ Architecture to renovate a monumental office complex on the right bank of the Seine, near the Place de la Bastille.  

The €146m project will redevelop the 44,000 sq m Morland Mixité Capitale building as a 161-room hotel, a youth hostel, shops, a nursery and 199 homes. Some new buildings will be built on "stilts" consisting of arches in architecturally exposed concrete cast on site. Four basement levels in the former ÃŽle de Louviers will also be included.

The terrace of the existing 50m-high building will feature a structure designed by artist Olafur Eliasson in conjunction with Studio Other Spaces that will use mirrors to give a 360° view of the city.

A public ground floor will contain shops and a food market, and the building will be topped by a 2,300 sq m roof-top flower and vegetable garden.

The project is one of the first schemes to be launched as part of the Reinventing Paris initiative, which aims to encourage innovative urban projects.

Bernard Mounier, Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France’s chief executive, said: "Morland Mixité Capitale, one of the flagship sites of the Reinventing Paris initiative, spotlights our know-how in meeting the challenges of mixed uses and energy management in carrying out one of the capital’s largest mixed-use developments."

Work on the project has started, and is due to last 29 months, with 660 people working onsite at peak periods.

Image courtesy of Bouygues