What is innovative about this project?

  • Project Planning & Management: Teaming up with local authorities for the uptake of new technologies.
  • Project Planning & Management: Ensuring a combination of purposes possible (housing, economic, leisure, nature) through spatial planning and urban planning approaches.
  • Technical: Maximising circularity in district renovation in construction.

The Caserne de Reuilly is an urban regeneration project providing affordable housing in Paris’ city centre. It forms part of the City’s long-term vision of a sustainable city. Formerly owned by the Ministry of Defense, the Reuilly military barracks was transformed to increase the supply of social and affordable housing in Paris. Public housing company Paris Habitat, the municipality, the State and other local stakeholders delivered the renovation of the barracks, favouring circularity principles while keeping the architectural heritage and the site’s memory. In the context of a highly urbanized city, Reuilly now holds affordable and social dwellings, a student residence, a nursery, common gardens, and commercial activities. A new neighbourhood emerged out of this previously vacant area.

Local Partnership

  • Company: Hh2o0 Architectures; Architectes des Bâtiments de France (ABF; Lin Architects Urbanists; Lacroix Chessex; Mir Architectes; Anyoji Beltrando; Charles- Henri Tachon; NP2F and Office Kersten Geers; David Van SeverenKGDVS; French Zero Waste House; Rotor.
  • Municipality: City of Paris
  • Housing provider: Paris Habitat (project management and development)
  • Other: French government; Action Logement; Caisse des Dépots et Consignations (CDC); CDC GPI; European Investment Bank (EIB). CROUS de Paris (students housing), residents of the neighbourhood

The City of Paris purchased the former military site from the French government for 40 million Euros, and entrusted Paris Habitat as the manager and developer of the regeneration project. The City of Paris remained as the main advisor concerning urban planning rules and the design of public space, such as gardens and nurseries. Paris Habitat then sold one of the renovated buildings to a French real estate group (CDC GPI) for private rental housing, where rents are regulated by the City of Paris over a 20-year period. Throughout the project, Paris Habitat was responsible for meeting the financial and policy guidelines set by the French government for the acquisition of the site.

Competitive bid was organised to select the lead architect (H20 team) who was then entrusted with the development of the site and the coordination between the other architect teams. Six teams of architects were chosen for the different projects that compose the whole programme. The “Architectes des Bâtiments de France” were specifically in charge of preserving the historical heritage. The Belgian company Rotor accompanied project stakeholders in adopting circularity by setting up an inventory of the materials on site, and analysed the life cycle of its components, the possible deconstruction of some elements, and the conditions and potential for their re-use.

Key Facts

  • Year of construction: 17th century
  • Renovation period: 2013-2020
  • Area of intervention (m²): 20.000 m²
  • Number of dwellings (before/after): 582
  • Housing typology: multi-apartment buildings
  • Housing tenure: Multi-ownership
    • Private rental housing (30% private rent-controlled accommodation units.)
    • Public rental housing (50% family accommodation, PLUS, PLS and PLAI, student accommodation)
    • Affordable rental housing (20% intermediary housing (PLI)
  • Number of residents: 1.500 – 2.000
  • Shared facilities: bicycle facility; public nursery; public garden and passageway; urban agriculture rooftops; shops and restaurants; facilities for local associations; artist workshops.

Financial information

  • Funding sources: City of Paris; Région Île-de-France, French government; Action Logement; European Investment Bank (EIB); Caiise des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC); Paris Habitat
  • Total cost of renovation (€): 149,000,000 € (including land cost)
  • Subsidies received (€): 16,038,581 €. Public (assisted) loans: 37,750,650 €
  • Rent before and after renovation (€/month): After renovation:
    − Social and affordable rents*: 7.30 – 13 €/m²
    − Affordable rental housing (private controlled rents)*: 16.8 €/m²
    − Private controlled rents*: 23-25 €/m²
    *2020 prices
  • Energy bill (€/month): N/A

Context

Formerly a royal mirror glass factory (XVII) and later owned by the Ministry of Defense (1830), the Reuilly barracks occupied over two hectares of land in the heart of Paris, between Place de la Bastille and Place de la Nation, a well-connected area, served by a dense public transport network (bus, metro) and cycle paths. Like a hundred other real estate and property lots in Paris, in 2006 these barracks had been marked for the development of 50% social housing in the Local Urban Development Plan. As time went by, the barracks no longer met the needs of the army. Within the process of streamlining the real estate in public hands, the State decided to sell. In 2013, the Government voted the Duflot Law, enabling the State and other large public operators to sell real estate at prices below their market value to encourage the creation of social housing. This law allows social housing providers to acquire land or buildings below the local market price and therefore make their projects economically sound. The Reuilly Barracks became part of a nation-wide goal of facilitating the creation of social housing in France, and particularly Paris. After extensive negotiations between the City of Paris authorities, the State and Paris Habitat, the housing programme and the financial conditions for the purchase of the property were agreed.

Goals

  •  Preserve the cultural heritage and architectural character of the site.
  • Reduce the carbon footprint of the renovation (through circular construction).
  • Build new dwellings and increase urban density to meet the high demand for affordable housing in Paris.
  • Increase the quality of housing in the heart of Paris and improve the living conditions of Parisians.
  • Increase green spaces and shared places for residents and visitors.
  • Open up the access to neighbourhood, in contrast with the closedness of the previous occupation.
  • Promote social and functional mix in the district.

Interventions

  •  Construction and renovation of mixed-use buildings: 50% social and student dwellings; 20% affordable intermediate dwellings; 30% private rent-controlled dwellings; and a nursery. Commercial premises and green areas were also included. All the accommodation units are accessible for people with reduced mobility.
  • Preservation of materials on site: the Reuilly Barracks’ iron gate, timber frame, emblematic wooden stairway and stone wall were kept along with the architectural and cultural heritage. In total, more than 600 tons of materials were reused.
  • Installation of eleven different types of materials: radiators, sandstone pavements, wooden cupboards, steel grids, ceramic sinks, slate roofs, luminaires and laminate panels were reused on site, refurbished on site or elsewhere. Old cobblestones were recovered and adapted for public passageways and garden paths.
  • Integration of rainwater management systems, including green areas and roofs, grass paving stones and valley gutters were implemented to recover rainwater.
  • Connection of the private building to the heating network of the Urban Heating Parisian Company, which includes an important and increasing part of recovered renewable energy – aerothermal and photovoltaic systems are in place.
  • Usage of three roofs for urban agriculture: a small urban farm of about 170 m2, managed by an association, whose production is sold locally. The green areas include a shared garden.
  • Creation of new pedestrian paths to allow passage between the buildings, through the garden and green places.
  • Organisation of public meetings, open-door consultations and co-design workshops with local residents, project architects, ABF and the City of Paris to stimulate active engagement in the project. Awareness raising about social housing was emphasised. Anthropologists and urbanists were key in the facilitation of these activities. Citizen engagement actives have become common practice in Paris Habitat and are often a pre-condition to get building permission in France.
  • During the time where the site was under study, rental of Paris Habitat ground floor spaces to associations, with the objective of opening up the site to the neighbourhood.

Impact

  • The regeneration of Caserne de Reuilly improved the neighbourhood’s daily life and social mix by providing a range of affordable housing options, 4,800 m² of public garden, basic services, retail and recreational space. A space that was once only reserved for military use has now been made accessible to Parisians.
  • The Caserne de Reuilly is considered as reference of circular affordable housing in the City of Paris and France. Beyond Paris Habitat’s housing operations, the project has brought some experience that can now be transferred to other housing projects interested in applying circular renovation practices.

Advice to future “Lighthouse Districts”

  • Ensure the housing owner has a leading role in the design, management and development of the project. Such a role helped Paris Habitat ensure the process was efficient and to actively influence the decision-making process.
  • Expect considerable challenges related to the renovation of classified buildings as it implied modernising and therefore altering architectural features.
  • Expect hidden costs in brownfield developments. In this particular case assessing the degree of pollution in the soil and its later removal was required to include vegetation, which added complexity and additional costs.
  • Include circularity obligations in the conceptual phase of the procurement procedures. The Caserne de Reuilly renovation was a pioneering project in 2013, and adopting circular principles and the practice of reusing materials was only starting, but the results were clearly positive.