Transforming Paris’ city center military barracks into affordable social and student housing

In 2015, Paris, France, launched an urban regeneration project to provide affordable housing in the city center by rehabilitating the military barracks in Reuilly, in the 12th arrondissement. The purpose was to increase the supply of affordable housing in Paris while preserving the site’s memory and architectural heritage.¹ Paris has traditionally built social housing in suburban areas, but placing it in the city center instead helps reduce socio-spatial exclusion and improve equal access to central urban life.

Launched in 2015, the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the 19th-century military barracks aimed to create affordable social and student housing in central Paris.² From the start of the program to 2020, 39,000 m² (approximately 420,000 square feet) were renovated.³ The building complex, constructed in 1847 and owned by the Ministry of Defense, was ceded to the administration of the city of Paris in 2013.⁴ From 2015 to 2020, 582 housing units were constructed, including 110 mid-market rental family housing units; 339 social family housing units; and 133 student housing units at regulated market rent.⁵ The neighborhood is served by a dense public transportation network (bus, subway) and cycle paths.

Evidence from France⁶ shows that a more even distribution of social housing across cities works to reduce inequality and exclusion by allowing low-income households to access higher-income communities with better job opportunities, and by easing the burden on areas with disproportionately high concentrations of low-income households.⁷

Alongside its main goal, the policy aimed to create a new neighborhood and foster the development of new activities while preserving the heritage and cultural dimension of the barracks.⁸ This included the development of green public spaces and passageways, urban agriculture “rooftops” and walking areas.⁹ Alongside the housing, other amenities were also built in the renovated buildings, such as bicycle facilities, shops and restaurants, and facilities for local associations and artist workshops.¹⁰ The space includes a total of 4,800 m² (approximately 51,700 square feet) of green surface.¹¹

The policy was part of a greater national policy framework, the “Housing construction mobilization plan,” with a nationwide goal of facilitating the creation of social housing in France.¹² The 2013 Duflot Law made it possible by allowing the state to sell real estate below market value to encourage social housing and allowing providers to acquire land and buildings at below-market prices, making more projects economically viable. All political parties involved in its vote, except the right-leaning UMP, approved it, showing some broad support for reforming the French social housing landscape.¹³ This law was replaced just a year later, in 2014, by the Pinel Law, but the mechanism allowing the State to sell at prices below market value remains in place.¹⁴

In the early 2010s, around ten million people in France were affected by the housing crisis.¹⁵ Soaring rents and land prices forced many low-income households into the suburbs, where most social housing had been constructed post-war. These areas suffered from poor maintenance standards, which exacerbated the divide between central Paris and the outskirts.

Implementation

The main stakeholders of the project were Paris Habitat—the city of Paris’s social housing body—and H2O Architects, who coordinated the construction and redevelopment work.¹⁶

Paris Habitat served as the housing provider, project manager, and development manager, while H2O Architects was responsible for the development of the site and coordination with the other architecture teams.¹⁷ Other architectural companies included Architectes des Bâtiments de France, which was responsible for the site’s cultural preservation. Many architecture firms were involved because the project required various forms of rehabilitation work, including integrating rainwater management systems, connecting the building to the heating network of the Compagnie Parisienne de Chauffage Urbain, creating “urban farms” on the rooftops, and adding new pedestrian paths.¹⁸

Stakeholders who funded the project included the City of Paris, the French Government, and the European Investment Bank.¹⁹

The project was divided into four key phases: (1) the preparatory phase from 2013 to 2014; (2) the conception, studies, and public inquiries and investigations from 2014 to 2015; (3) the preparatory work for construction from 2015 to 2016; and finally (4) the construction and redevelopment work from 2017 to 2020. Although the project concluded in 2020, the first new residents arrived in 2019.²⁰

Throughout the phases, the main stakeholders also organized public meetings, open-door consultations, and co-design workshops with residents and architects to raise public awareness about social housing. While the site was under study for construction, Paris Habitat rented ground-floor spaces to social associations.²¹

Investment

The total cost of the rehabilitation and redevelopment is estimated at 170,000,000 euros.²²

Multiple funding sources included the City of Paris, the Paris greater area administration, the French Government, and the European Investment Bank.²³

Assessment

The Reuilly barracks rehabilitation allowed for around 1,000 to 1,500 people from low- and middle-income families and students to move into 582 apartments. This policy was part of a greater Paris housing framework that has created more than 110,000 social housing units since 2001.²⁴ The renovated buildings were also adapted for people with reduced mobility, an important dimension, as such accessibility is rare in the greater Paris area.²⁵

The neighborhood benefited from new public gardens, basic services, retail and recreational spaces, and the policy has long-term positive effects because it created permanent housing. The environmental sustainability benefits are also significant, as the construction work reused 600 tons of the original material,²⁶ and the redevelopment was designed to be eco-friendly.

While the Reuilly barracks rehabilitation is a successful component of the greater Paris project, affordable housing remains an important issue in Paris. Social housing policies receive the support of the Paris mayor’s office and left-wing parties, but have faced some political opposition overall.²⁷

Paris residents also have mixed views on social housing construction; in Reuilly’s case, neighborhood residents raised concerns about density and construction disruption. The stakeholders tried to include residents in the participatory meetings, which might have helped make them feel more welcome.²⁸

Paris, France. © Nico Knaack / Unsplash.

Tags

• High-Income Country
• Housing
• Spatial Inequality
• Urban Areas