france Archives

Uchronia founder designs own home as “love letter to French craft”

Glossy walls, ruched curtains and oversized flower-shaped cushions characterise this eclectic 1970s-style Paris apartment, designed and owned by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban.

Called Univers Uchronia, the apartment is in the city’s 18th arrondissement, close to the Uchronia office – a Parisian architecture and interiors studio known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces.

Orange desk in Univers Uchronia apartment — Julien Sebban designed Univers Uchronia as his home

Sebban designed the dwelling as his home, which he shares with his husband and Maison Royère artistic director Jonathan Wray.

The Uchronia founder created the apartment as an extension of his studio – “it’s truly a manifesto of our universe,” he told Dezeen.

Colourful living room with pink curtains — Colourful interiors anchor the apartment

Sebban worked with local studio Atelier Roma to create all the walls and ceilings, which are either lacquered and glossy or made of matte pigmented concrete, respectively reflecting or absorbing light throughout the day.

Finished in hues ranging from cloud-like pale blue to lemony yellow, the walls and ceilings complement the poured-in-place resin floor that spans the apartment and features a bold motif that “waves and moves in relation to the architecture”.

Open-plan kitchen in Univers Uchronia — A metallic island features in the open-plan kitchen

The home is anchored by a predominantly pink living space, which includes Uchronia-designed pieces such as low-slung interlocking coffee tables made from walnut burl and orange resin.

Translucent and gathered pink curtains were paired with a geometric vintage bookshelf and a blocky but soft sofa finished in purple and orange.

Onyx dining table — A bespoke onyx dining table was created for the home

“The apartment is very colourful with ’60s and ’70s inspirations and a mix of our contemporary pieces and vintage objects,” said Sebban.

In the open-plan kitchen and dining room, a veiny Van Gogh onyx table was positioned next to a metallic kitchen island, illuminated by a blobby seaweed-shaped table lamp.

Home office with orange and yellow walls — Ornamental jellyfish decorate the home office

A portion of the otherwise orange wall was clad with tiny, mirrored tiles. Reflected in the gleaming ceiling, the tiles have the same effect as a shimmering disco ball.

Opposite the dining area is Sebban and Wray’s home office, characterised by a bright orange, built-in day bed topped with silk flower-like cushions and a wave-shaped backrest.

Bathroom with pink bathtub — The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design

Above the bed, ornamental jellyfish were suspended like planets against a constellation of gold stars, which decorate the ombre orange and yellow wall that nods to the colour-drenched interior of the city’s Cafe Nuances – also designed by Uchronia.

The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design. Accents include dusty pink alcoves and ceramic tiles depicting underwater scenes, as well as a lily pad-shaped rug and a mirror resembling a cluster of clouds.

“The apartment defines the codes we have tried to develop at Uchronia over the last four years,” concluded Sebban.

“It’s a play on colours, textures and materials, and a love letter to French craft.”

Pink-hued bathroom by Uchronia — Univers Uchronia is “a love letter to French craft”

Uchronia was named emerging interior designer of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. The studio previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces created to mirror the appearance of precious stones.

Various architects have designed their own homes, such as John Pawson, who created this minimalist second home in the Cotswolds in the UK.

The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot.

Reference

Interior Design

Paris duplex by Johanna Amatoury references Greek island architecture

By Zarkon Group,21/02/2024

Harnessing soft whites and gently curving plaster forms, interior designer Johanna Amatoury has brought a holiday-house feel to this apartment in the peaceful Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The duplex belongs to a couple who work in real estate and their three young children – a globetrotting family with a particular love for the Greek islands.

Exterior of Paris apartment by Johanna Amatoury — Interior designer Johanna Amatoury has renovated a Paris duplex

Amatoury designed their apartment as a homage to the region’s vernacular architecture.

“Because of their love for this part of the world, we arrived in this apartment and imagined a holiday house feeling, using warm and textural materials – very unlike typical Parisian apartments,” she told Dezeen.

“We worked with mineral materials, textures and raw colours in the apartment to provide depth and achieve the desired ambience.”

Hallway of Paris apartment — Curving plaster-covered surfaces feature heavily in the entryway

The design of the home was also shaped by its layout, arranged over the ground and first floors of a large 1980s building that opens onto a small garden.

This encouraged Amatoury to model the apartment on a single-family house.

View into living room of flat by Johanna Amatoury — The design draws on the vernacular architecture of the Greek islands

“We wanted to imagine it as a house, to create a more outside-in atmosphere, increasing all the size of the windows,” she said.

“The apartment is on the garden level, so my guideline was to open as much as possible to the outside and the planting there.”

Living room of Paris apartment — Violetta marble tables anchor the living room

The apartment’s whole floorplan was reworked in order to create a living room, dining room and kitchen that all look onto the gardens outside.

The staircase was relocated to a more logical location close to the entrance, while upstairs the space was completely reconfigured to create four bedroom suites.

Artwork hanging over console table inside Paris apartment by Johanna Amatoury — Artworks reflect the Grecian theme of the interior

As a homage to Greek island architecture, Amatoury used Roman plaster to soften the forms within the apartment, particularly in the entrance hall.

“We used warm, textural materials including lots of softly curving and tactile plaster finishes that give the space a sculptural look,” she said.

“Roman plaster is a very ancient technique that has a mineral appearance with a smooth, soft and slightly glossy finish, which catches the eye and dresses the wall through classic mineral colours while also embracing brighter nuances.”

In the kitchen, smoked walnut timber cabinetry is paired with splashbacks and worktops made of Navona travertine.

Set in an otherwise open-plan space, the area is enclosed in glazed panels.

“The family entertains a lot and cooks a lot, both the parents and the children,” Amatoury said. “As a result, it was necessary to be able to close off the kitchen while maintaining this visual openness.”

Kitchen of Paris apartment with glass partitions — The kitchen is enclosed by glazed partitions

Much like a window, the glazed panels feature curved grilles and are set on an oak base that creates a visual link with the built-in oak banquette upholstered in white boucle wool.

“We create a lot of benches because they’re so practical, incorporating storage chests, but most importantly for their cosy appeal,” Amatoury said. “Benches introduce a mix of fabrics and through these fabrics, the space becomes more welcoming.”

Dining area of Paris apartment by Johanna Amatoury — Amatoury fashioned an oak seating banquette for the dining area

For Amatoury, the furniture edit was a balancing act between creating a “harmonious yet eclectic atmosphere” that blends sophistication and comfort.

Taking a central role is the curving sofa in the living room, which is upholstered in off-white linen and paired with monolithic Violetta marble tables.

Stairwell of Paris apartment — A staircase leads up to the second floor

“Its design not only provided a focal point but also added a touch of elegance and softness to the space,” she said.

“The curving shape offered a sense of flow and organic grace, enhancing the room’s visual appeal. The choice of off-white linen contributed to a serene ambience here, promoting a feeling of openness and lightness.”

Bedroom of apartment by Johanna Amatoury — The upper level houses four bedroom suites

Amatoury, who has worked on several residential and commercial interiors across Paris, says she was tasked with the project after the owners admired a home she had completed for friends of theirs.

“They liked our work and especially the warmth we bring to our projects, almost like a cocoon,” she said.

Other residential interiors in the French capital that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a loft apartment in a former textile workshop and a Haussmann-era flat that was restored to its “former glory”.

The photography is by Pierce Scourfield.

Reference

Interior Design

Brasserie des Pres draws on the vibrant history of Paris’s Latin Quarter

By Zarkon Group,20/02/2024

The storied location of this brasserie in Paris inspired interior studio B3 Designers to fill the restaurant with tasselled chairs, disco balls and other flamboyant decor.

Brasserie des Pres is set in Paris’s Latin Quarter, which was a hub of creativity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, its cafes filled with artists, publishers and prominent writers including Ernest Hemingway and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Interior of Brasserie des Pres restaurant in Paris by B3 Designers — Brasserie des Pres’s ground-floor dining space features red-panelled walls with decorative tiling

London-based studio B3 Designers aimed to infuse this same buzzy ambience into the quarter’s latest eatery, undeterred by its awkwardly narrow interiors.

“Brasserie des Pres has a very unique floor print and we’ve used the existing architecture to create layers of dining experiences,” the studio said. “We’ve created a feeling of community and delight, a welcoming backdrop to the great food served here.”

Lush with greenery, the exterior of the restaurant features a striped orange awning and classic Parisian terrace seating.

Once guests step inside, they find themselves in a large dining room with red-panelled walls, inset with mirrored shelves that display an assortment of shapely glass vessels.

Decorative tiles depicting limes, lemons and oranges are incorporated at the top of each panel.

Tables throughout the room are dressed with white linen cloths and bijou brass lamps, nodding to the table set-up of the Latin Quarter’s traditional eateries.

Guests also have the option to sit at a high marble counter that directly overlooks Brasserie des Pres’s bustling kitchen or enjoy a drink at the bar, which is fronted by velvet-lined orange stools.

More dining space is provided on the first floor, where the shelves along the walls are filled with antique books and candelabras to mimic the worldly look of a cabinet of curiosities.

Finally, on the top floor of the restaurant is a lounge-style space where guests can relax while selecting tracks from the brasserie’s vinyl record library.

A curtained partition can be drawn back to reveal a secret bar, complete with a mirrored ceiling. From its centre hangs a cluster of disco balls, enclosed by a circular neon sign that spells the word groovy.

A plush, crimson banquet winds around the periphery of the space, accompanied by matching tassel-backed chairs and marble tables.

Even the toilets at this level are finished with eccentric details including a pearl-laden chandelier that droops above the washbasin and surreal gold-framed paintings that depict the eyes of “unsung Parisian anti-heroes”, according to B3 Designers.

Paris’s rich culinary scene is constantly expanding.

Other spots that have recently opened up around the city include Citrons et Huîtres, an oyster bar that’s designed to resemble a fishmonger, and Chinese restaurant Bao Express, which has a retro interior informed by Hong Kong diners of the 1970s.

The photography is by Vincent Remy and Joann Pai.

Reference

Interior Design

Hauvette & Madani restores Paris apartment to “former glory”

By Zarkon Group,16/02/2024

Local design studio Hauvette & Madani drew on the Haussmannian history of this Paris apartment to create a gallery-like interior for its occupant’s vast art collection.

Located in the city’s historic Triangle d’Or, the dwelling previously featured minimalist marble surfaces and gilding leftover from a recent renovation.

Hauvette & Madani “re-appropriated” the apartment, originally designed as part of Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s famed reconstruction of the French capital during the mid-19th century, to reflect its architectural past.

Paris apartment by Hauvette & Madani — Hauvette & Madani added cornices and mouldings to the apartment to reflect the dwelling’s Haussmannian roots

“The challenge was to completely revamp the apartment, which had just been refurbished,” said studio co-founder Samantha Hauvette, who designed the dwelling with Lucas Madani.

“We carried out meticulous research to find the right motifs and decorations to restore the place to its former glory and Haussmannian charm,” she told Dezeen.

Artworks within the Hauvette & Madani-designed living room — The living room features various artworks

The designers recreated delicate white cornices and mouldings – hallmarks of Haussmannian design – within the apartment, which had been previously stripped of these details.

This created a considered but neutral backdrop for the resident’s eclectic collection of artwork and a curated selection of furniture “mixing eras and styles,” according to Hauvette and Madani.

Turquoise fireplace — Sarah Crowner designed a bold fireplace for the dining space

Visitors enter at a small round vestibule clad in straw marquetry – a “common thread” that also features on a pair of curved sofas and a sleek coffee table as well as sliding doors, the main bedroom’s headboard and the dining table.

The light-filled living room is characterised by sculptural furniture and art pieces, including rounded vintage armchairs finished in a dark green hue and metallic base.

An amorphous ceiling work by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm was suspended above the sofas, while a deep blue painting by Swiss practitioner Miriam Cahn adds a bold hue to the room.

“It’s a real living space, where the homeowner shares a lot with her artist and designer friends,” said the designers. “All the pieces have a strong identity.”

Pink and green kitchen within Paris apartment — The kitchen balances traditional elements with more alternative details

For the dining room, American artist Sarah Crowner created a striking turquoise fireplace, which was clad in a blocky mosaic of geometric tiles and positioned alongside a burnt orange vintage egg-shaped chair.

“We wanted to take the codes of classicism and break free from them,” explained Hauvette and Madani, who aimed to balance traditional interior details with more contemporary colourful touches.

Blocky wooden drinks bar — A blocky drinks bar was finished in the same design as the kitchen table

Continuing this theme, the designers sandwiched a bright green stove between more subtle, light pink cabinets in the kitchen, which includes a patterned feature wall.

Blocks of light-coloured timber were stacked by French furniture maker Hervé van der Straeten to create a singular lumpy leg for the kitchen table as well as the base of a drinks bar elsewhere in the apartment.

Hauvette and Madani also constructed an in-house sauna for the home, finished in dark wooden slats and tucked behind a bespoke green-hued daybed, made by the designers themselves.

“We have a strong belief that everything that you love independently will work perfectly once put together,” said Madani, who highlighted the power of trusting your instincts when curating eclectic interiors.

Home sauna — Hauvette & Madani also added a home sauna

Summarising the overall look and feel of the apartment, the pair declared, “it’s Paris Haussmannian style, with a hint of craziness!”

Hauvette & Madani is not the first studio to renovate a traditional Parisian apartment with contemporary touches.

Local studio Uchronia recently filled a home for jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces crafted to mirror the appearance of precious stones. The studio also previously added a wine-red kitchen to an otherwise neutral flat in the French capital.

The photography is by François Coquerel.

Reference

Interior Design

Oka Fogo restaurants in Paris feature murals by Florence Bamberger

By Zarkon Group,30/01/2024

Architect Arnaud Behzadi and artist Florence Bamberger have combined French and Brazilian influences to create interiors for a pair of adjoining restaurants.

Located in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, Oka Fogo is the latest eatery from Raphael Rego, a Michelin-starred chef who is originally from Rio de Janeiro.

Behzadi designed interiors that aim to capture the spirit of Rego’s cuisine, while Bamberger painted wall and ceiling murals that bring an extra spark of energy.

Mural by Florence Bamberger on the wall of Fogo — Bamberger reinterpreted Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe on the wall of Fogo

The two restaurants each have a distinct character.

Oka, which means “house” in the language of Brazil’s indigenous Tupi people, is an intimate 16-seat dinner-service restaurant with the feel of a grand yet cosy lounge.

The neighbouring Fogo, which translates as “fire”, is a less formal space that offers a sense of dining al fresco. With an adjoining bar and grill, this 40-seat space is open for lunch and dinner.

Oka restaurant with travertine wall — Oka is a 16-seat restaurant with the feel of a grand but cosy lounge

“I approached the project as a journey through a house,” Behzadi told Dezeen.

“I see Oka as a prestigious living room and Fogo as an interior garden.”

Mural by Florence Bamberger on the ceiling of Oka — A ceiling mural incorporates references to Brazil’s flora and fauna

Bamberger’s expressive murals reinforce this approach.

In Fogo, she has painted a reinterpretation of the Édouard Manet artwork, Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe. The work takes cues from the free-flowing lines of Brazilian artist José Francisco Borgès, resulting in a vibrant style.

The Oka mural features on the ceiling rather than a wall. This more abstract work is based on Brazil’s flora and fauna, along with objects that represent the nation’s culture.

Oka Fogo restaurant facade — The facade combines Jatoba wood with striated marble

Behzadi chose richly toned woods and highly textural marbles for the interior design palette, in a nod to materials favoured by Brazil’s prolific mid-century designers.

This partnering of stone and wood begins with the facade, where panels of Jatoba wood from the Amazon sit above a plinth of striated Iranian marble.

“I decided to interpret a classical style for the storefront,” said Behzadi.

“It’s a very Parisian approach, using an exotic material to start evoking the interior that you will discover inside.”

Tables and chairs in window of Fogo — Fogo’s floor is a grid of green marble and travertine tiles

Inside, decorative wooden furniture and joinery are accompanied by a mix of different stones, including white travertine and various green-toned marbles.

Other eye-catching details include sculptural wall lights by Behzadi’s former business partner, designer Cathy Crinon, and chairs by the late Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues.

“There is a clear Brazilian inspiration,” added Behzadi.

Oka Fogo alcove dining space — Additional spaces include a private alcove

The venue also includes an alcove dining space with room for six, featuring a mirrored ceiling and curved banquette in red velvet, and a wine and champagne tasting room with a vaulted ceiling.

Oka Fogo opened earlier this month. Other recent openings in Paris include Moët Hennessy’s Cravan cocktail bar and oyster bar Citrons et Huîtres.

The photography is by Claire Israel.

Reference

Sustainable News

TVK designs limestone buildings for “first zero-carbon district” in Paris

By Zarkon Group,06/01/2024

French architecture practice TVK has completed a neighbourhood in Paris made up of limestone buildings surrounding a garden and designed as a sustainable development that aims to increase biodiversity.

Located on a triangular site in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, the project is “the capital’s first zero-carbon district”, according to TVK.

Named Îlot Fertile, which translates to “fertile island” in French, it contains apartments, a youth hostel, student residences, a hotel, offices, restaurants, shops and sports facilities.

Paris zero-carbon neighbourhood by TVK — TVK claims Îlot Fertile is the first zero-carbon district in Paris

The four buildings that make up the neighbourhood range in height from seven to nine storeys tall, each with ground-floor levels made from low-carbon concrete and designed to achieve large, unobstructed interior spaces.

The upper levels were made from load-bearing limestone sourced mainly from the local Ile-de-France region, aiming to reduce the carbon cost of transportation.

TVK claims the 35,200-square-metre development is the largest load-bearing stone building site since Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s reconstruction of Paris in the mid-19th century.

Îlot Fertile zero carbon neighbourhood in Paris by TVK — The buildings were made from load-bearing stone and concrete

“Each material is used in the right place and the right quantity,” TVK founders Pierre Alain Trévelo and Antoine Viger Kohler told Dezeen.

“We chose to use mainly limestone from the Paris region – it’s the same one used to build the Haussmann buildings.”

Public spaces, including restaurants and shops, are located on the ground floors of the buildings and open onto the central garden.

Hotel accommodations and apartments are on the upper levels, and a raised outdoor level provides additional garden spaces with an orchard, vegetable patches, insect hotels and nest boxes.

Office spaces are located in a building that sits parallel to a railway line and, aiming to work with the site’s existing topology and move as little earth as possible, TVK designed a sunken sports centre in a large hole on the site to create an interior with high ceilings.

“The biggest challenge of the project was to bring together more than a dozen programmes and turn them into a fully-fledged part of the city,” said Trévelo and Kohler.

“The shape of each building is linked to the very specific geometry of the site shaped by the railway infrastructure,” they continued. “This brings diversity to a building complex of this scale.”

Îlot Fertile zero carbon neighbourhood — It is located on a triangular site next to a railway

TVK designed Îlot Fertile to have a minimal carbon footprint in its construction and operation. It topped the buildings with photovoltaic panels and green roofs to produce energy while also aiming to increase biodiversity.

“Its proximity to public transport means that Îlot Fertile does not require any car parking, and we used a bioclimatic design to keep energy requirements to a minimum for heating, cooling and lighting,” said Trévelo and Kohler.

“For the small amount of energy that will be consumed, the project plans to compensate for it by producing green energy via bio-solar roofs.”

Tennis court in a sports centre — The development includes a sports centre built into an existing hole in the site’s topography

“Driven by the City of Paris’ ambition for ecological transition, zero-carbon is a long-term objective for the life of the entire operation,” added Trévelo and Kohler.

Elsewhere in Paris, Christ & Gantenbein completed a 124-metre-long steel-clad housing block, and RSHP unveiled its design for a “post-carbon” neighbourhood that will be located in the La Défense business district.

The photography is by Julien Hourcade.

Project credits:

Architect: TVK
Client: Linkcity
Landscape design: OLM
Building and civil engineering: Berim
Engineering: Carbone 4 and Amoes

Reference

Architecture

30 Best Architecture Firms in France

By Zarkon Group,30/12/2023

These annual rankings were last updated on December 29th, 2023. Want to see your firm on next year’s list? Continue reading for more on how you can improve your studio’s ranking.

The French are formative cultural leaders in many respects — from cuisine to art tp fashion. They are viewed as global front-runners in several disciplines, and architecture is undeniably one of them. When we think of France, we often admire the illustrious Gothic churches, the Haussmannian Parisian boulevards, the ornate Baroque palaces, Le Corbusier’s modernist triumphs and the charming countryside towns.

The French built environment is swimming in architectural history, but equally so in contemporary triumphs. It’s not only the Gothic and Renaissance châteaux that make this paysage français so exciting to explore, it is also the architectural innovation taking place today. Revolution is rooted in the French DNA, and the commitment to transforming and creating is not lost in its architectural community. Whether they are reinventing established architectural typologies like school design or invigorating their public spaces through green architecture, the French remain governors of architecture incroyable.

With so many architecture firms to choose from, it’s challenging for clients to identify the industry leaders that will be an ideal fit for their project needs. Fortunately, Architizer is able to provide guidance on the top design firms in France based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge.

How are these architecture firms ranked?

The following ranking has been created according to key statistics that demonstrate each firm’s level of architectural excellence. The following metrics have been accumulated to establish each architecture firm’s ranking, in order of priority:

The number of A+Awards won (2013 to 2023)
The number of A+Awards finalists (2013 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Project of the Day” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects selected as “Featured Project” (2009 to 2023)
The number of projects uploaded to Architizer (2009 to 2023)

Each of these metrics is explained in more detail at the foot of this article. This ranking list will be updated annually, taking into account new achievements of France architecture firms throughout the year.

Without further ado, here are the 30 best architecture firms in France:

30. BFV ARCHITECTES

BFV Architectes is an architecture studio funded by Jean Bocabeille, Olivier Fassio and Jean-Brice Viaud. This acronym stands for more than 20 years of experience. It embodies both a historical continuity and a strong desire to grow together and broaden the scope of action. The idea of creating a new practice was obvious to the three men, as much as their will to keep building a consistent, efficient and meaningful kind of architecture. Bocabeille, Fassio and Viaud’s projects have been carried out either as collective journeys ([BP] Architectures, Plan01 or Fassio-Viaud Architectes) or individual adventures (Jean Bocabeille Architecte).

Some of BFV ARCHITECTES’s most prominent projects include:

PULSE, Saint-Denis, France
A MIXED USE PROGRAM: 132 housing units + 1 religious center + 2 retail businesses, Paris, France
NURSERY SCHOOL, Épinay-sous-Sénart, France
HOUSING PROJECT (& Rooftop), Pontoise, France
MORE WITH LESS, Paris, France

The following statistics helped BFV ARCHITECTES achieve 30th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	13

29. Architecture Patrick Mauger

The agency contributes to the transformation of the city, designing buildings that enrich life by multiplying their possible uses. The fields of activity are highly varied, ranging from urban spaces with studies to modify the reception areas in the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie and the northern Vilette esplanade (definition study) to interior architecture and design for the new layouts of the Louvre museum restaurants and delivery of the first “monolith”, inspired by an lfood on the terraces of the Richelieu wing.

Through their uses, contexts and budgets, the projects reveal a strong personality and are characterized by the emphasis on materials, such as marble powder on a honeycomb structure and Corian for the Louvre, or The Arte Povera treated wood for the CROUS centre in Mabillon.

Some of Architecture Patrick Mauger’s most prominent projects include:

Cultural Center, Auneau, France
Nièvre’s Departmental Archives, Nevers, France
IGN and Météo France Geosciences Centre, Saint-Mandé, France
Secrétan covered market, Paris, France
Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris, France

The following statistics helped Architecture Patrick Mauger achieve 29th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	21

28. A+Architecture

A+Architecture, leaded by nine partners, Philippe Bonon, Philippe Cervantes, Gilles Gal, Issis Raman, Christophe Aubailly, Vincent Nogaret, Julie Carayon-Couderc, Fabien Thuile et Clément Rabourdin is a team of architects, urban planners and designers with various backgrounds and cultures. Design is always the result of a collective work. Indeed, sharing a large open space favors group dynamics.

Some of A+Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

A+Agency, Montpellier, France
NEW NATIONAL STADIUM TOKYO 2020, Shinjuku, Japan
Jean-Claude Carrière Theatre, Montpellier, France
Cultural Centre , Agde, France
Port Marianne Secondary School, Montpellier, France

The following statistics helped A+Architecture achieve 28th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	23

27. Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)

DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE / ARCHITECTS is a partnership founded in January 2006 in Paris and practicing Architecture, Urbanism and Space Design.

Some of Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)’s most prominent projects include:

THE BUMP, Paris, France
LIGHT IS TIME, Milano, Italy
NEW NATIONAL STADIUM TOKYO 2020, Shinjuku, Japan
Estonian National Museum / “Memory Field”, Tartu, Estonia
A HOUSE FOR OISO, Naka District, Japan

The following statistics helped Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT) achieve 27th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	9

26. PETITDIDIERPRIOUX

Cédric Petitdidier and Vincent Prioux founded Petitdidierprioux Architectes in 2004. With more than forty staff and two offices in Paris and Lyon, PPX has completed more than forty projects, with just as many currently in development and in construction. Through its work, PPX has garnered expertise in residential housing, consistently striving for social mixing and ‘pleasurable density’ in an effort to reconcile individual and collective housing, including for high-rise buildings.

Each project delivers thoughtful consideration of typological variations and the notion of comfort, through particular attention to context, orientation, materials and energy use. PPX makes understanding any new situation the starting point of its process, and approaches each project free of preconceptions, always with a fresh, yet seasoned perspective.

Some of PETITDIDIERPRIOUX’s most prominent projects include:

152 HOUSING UNITS, Villeurbanne, France
71 HOUSING UNITS IN A SOCIAL RESIDENCE, Paris, France
SOCIAL RESIDENCE, Bordeaux, France
ATHLETES’ VILLAGE OLYMPIC GAMES 2024, L’Île-Saint-Denis, France
30 SOCIAL HOUSING UNITS, Villefranche-sur-Saone, France

The following statistics helped PETITDIDIERPRIOUX achieve 26th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	3
Total Projects	13

25. PCA-STREAM

The PCA-STREAM agency brings together 90 architects, urban planners, designers and engineers, capable of responding to the complex challenges of the contemporary world. PCA is the architecture and urban planning agency, STREAM, a unique transdisciplinary research program to which more than 150 researchers from around the world contribute, and whose work is widely disseminated and applied in PCA’s large-scale projects.

Some of PCA-STREAM’s most prominent projects include:

LABORDE, Paris, France
175HAUSSMANN, Paris, France
PCA-STREAM’s CLUSTER, Paris, France
TALLEYRAND, Paris, France
#CLOUD.PARIS, Paris, France

The following statistics helped PCA-STREAM achieve 25th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	16

24. NZI Architectes

We founded the NZI ARCHITECTES agency in 2012. Our association is based on a project approach by creative, complementary and participatory experimentation. Fervent activists for environmental innovation, our work is based on the search for contextual urban insertions, paying constant attention to sustainable development.

We are lucky to be able to work on atypical programs that range from participatory housing to straw construction, but also from wood construction to the recycling of offices into housing. This journey, enriched by the diversity of solutions we experience on programs, requires us to be combative to get out of the pre-established standards. Our work is oriented towards the exploration of other and innovative techniques.

Some of NZI Architectes’ most prominent projects include:

Transformation of an office building into a wood and straw 139 student rooms, Paris, France
Shop to Loft Conversion, Paris, France
Levallois Apartment, Levallois-Perret, France
PARTICIPATORY HABITAT IN MONTREUIL, Montreuil, France
Wood and Stone Early childhood home, Vauréal, France

The following statistics helped NZI Architectes achieve 24th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	4
Total Projects	5

23. GARDERA-D

GARDERA-D is a pluridisciplinary architecture agency established in Paris and Biarritz, France. The agency explores a wide scope of investigation and responds to a varied demand for projects, ranging from architecture (housing, workplaces, teaching, equipment …) to interior design and object design.

Each project is approached and studied in a specific way, according to an approach based specifically on a particular attention to usages of buildings and the search for an optimum level in the relationship between architecture and location.

Some of GARDERA-D’s most prominent projects include:

ACBA, Agglomération Côte Basque Adour, Bayonne, France
House R, Anglet, France
145 Student Housing, Bordeaux, France
AZALA, Biarritz, France
H+L House, Biarritz, France

The following statistics helped GARDERA-D achieve 23rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	8

22. STUDIO 02

Based in Vannes since 2007 and claiming the ocean scenery as an inspiration, Studio 02 has found its place among the most prolific architect duos from the new generation. From the Binic nautical pole and the Plomodiern town hall to the overlays at the Baud Cultural Center, Romain Grégoire and Thomas Collet, set their enthusiastic vision of modernity, of a rational architecture, elegant and sophisticated made to please the client.

Faced with the context of each project, Studio 02’s style feeds itself from successive transformations, affirming the idea that no construction can simply just be abstract or monumental. Their architecture has clearly chosen a playground: clear lines, shades and frails… of these living buildings with hung images.

Some of STUDIO 02’s most prominent projects include:

City Hall, Plomodiern, France
LOTUS, Rennes, France
Monterblanc, Monterblanc, France
PLUMERGAT, Plumergat, France
Cultural center, Baud, France

The following statistics helped STUDIO 02 achieve 22nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	8

21. Taillandier Architectes Associés

Founded in 1993 by Pierre-Louis Taillandier, Taillandier Architectes Associés (TAA) is an architecture and urbanism agency based in Toulouse, France. TAA is an open-minded organisation, working side by side with private and public partners. The people at TAA give their best to develop architectural solutions aimed to enhance the general experience: regardless of the nature of the project, the answer has to improve the quality of life of the end user and the direct environment.

To reach this goal, the approach needs to be well designed and well built. Every step must be taken very carefully within a structured and professional organization. Much more than a mere architectural momentum, every project designed by Taillandier Architectes Associés solves a series of equations blending program, user and environmental specifics.

Some of Taillandier Architectes Associés’s most prominent projects include:

Païcherou Aquatic Center, Carcassonne, France
Campus Vidal & Forum des Arènes, Toulouse, France
ZAC Niel, Toulouse, France
Cour Saint Cyp, Toulouse, France
INFINITY, Toulouse, France

The following statistics helped Taillandier Architectes Associés achieve 21st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	31

20. Atelier Stéphane Fernandez

The studio is based in Aix en Provence in the south of France, not far from Marseille. The studio’s work focuses on landscape issues. From the urban landscape to the historical landscape, from the built to the unbuilt, our approach being the field of architecture to a much more complex reality.

With this in mind, the studio works in collaboration with a variety of disciplines (landscape architects, designers, photographers and writers) to produce an approach to the project that is as complete as possible, but above all as sensitive as possible.

Some of Atelier Stéphane Fernandez’s most prominent projects include:

Ecole Communale Jacqueline de Romilly, Cannes, France
International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Cour et Jardin, Vertou, France
Espace Arbois Duranne, Aix-en-Provence, France
Logements Monfleuri social housing, Carnoux-en-Provence, France

The following statistics helped Atelier Stéphane Fernandez achieve 20th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	5

19. Mikou Design Studio

Mikou Design Studio is a place of creation and experimentation in architecture and its inter-disciplinary cross-fertilization. We work in a continuous workshop spirit with a multidisciplinary team of architects, engineers, graphic artists, scenographers and town planners from very different cultural backgrounds.

Every project is an excuse for re-questioning and redefining the meaning of a brief, a function, and an urban, social and human context, in order to invent new ways of living, places for sharing and gathering that are more sensitive and more sensual, and which stimulate feelings. Our aim is to get away from preconceptions of form and function in order to transmit more and better.

Some of Mikou Design Studio’s most prominent projects include:

Balsanéo Aquatics Centre, Châteauroux, France
Swimming Pool Feng Shui, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Olympic Swimming Pool Tourcoing, Tourcoing, France
House of Art and Culture, Beirut, Lebanon
High School Jean Lurçat, Saint-Denis, France

The following statistics helped Mikou Design Studio achieve 19th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	14

18. studio razavi architecture

Our work rests on a fundamental principal: the mediation between engineering & architectural culture. It is our belief that successful designs can only materialize by fully synthesizing building technology and architectural sensitivity. Our approach to space is hence determined by a rigorous understanding of existing relationships between technique and culture, free of stylistic limitations, open to context.

Our designs cover a wide spectrum or architectural services from interiors to master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. Operating as one firm with two offices (Paris and New York) our portfolio of works spans from Europe to the Americas and includes residential, corporate, hospitality, civic, transportation, and mixed-use projects.

Some of studio razavi architecture’s most prominent projects include:

August Debouzy, Paris, France
Concrete Town House, New York, New York
Mountain House, Manigod, France
Apartment XVII, Lyon, France
Apartment XVI, Paris, France

The following statistics helped studio razavi architecture achieve 18th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	15

17. designbuildLAB

The design/buildLAB is a project-based experiential learning program focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative construction methods and architectural designs. Students collaborate with local communities and industry experts to conceive and realize built works of architecture that are both educational and charitable in nature. The aspirations of the program are simultaneously to reinforce the knowledge and skills necessary to the students’ successful and meaningful practice of architecture and to support development efforts in distressed communities by enriching the quality of their built environment.

Some of designbuildLAB’s most prominent projects include:

Smith Creek Park, Clifton Forge, VA, United States
Maison Pour Tous, Four, France
Sharon Fieldhouse, Alleghany County, VA, United States
Sharon Fields, Alleghany County, VA, United States
Nomad Shelters, Villard-de-Lans, France

The following statistics helped designbuildLAB achieve 17th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	2
A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	6

16. Nomade Architectes

Raphaël Chivot, Matthieu Laviolle and Vincent Le Garrec – open-neck shirts and no Rolexes – are self-made men. An early schoolboy encounter was important; a sail together across the Atlantic, decisive. An agency was born first from camaraderie, then friendship: Nomade… all clear on the horizon and open-mindedness at a maximum. Which means, no borders. Between Paris and Vannes (its two locations) the agency specializes in all projects. And it works everywhere. Nomade moves and grows.

Ideas swarm in the inventive minds of some thirty faithful co-workers who have taken to organizing themselves around centers of interest, from design to the worksite via research, communication and even computer science.

Some of Nomade Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

Janine Jambu Gymnasium, Bagneux, France
Valerie Nicolas Gymnasium, Cancale, France
“Maison air et lumière” an Active House by Nomade, Verrières-le-Buisson, France
Delegation of the vineyard, Clisson, France
St Brieuc’s Elderly Establishment, Saint-Brieuc, France

The following statistics helped Nomade Architectes achieve 16th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	15

15. AUM Pierre Minassian

AUM Pierre Minassian is a firm that started its activity by designing houses. Since then the firm has diversified and now deals with a variety of subjects in various fields such as hotels, company headquarters, art galleries, cultural centers, educational buildings, sports facilities and even multi-unit housing. There are however common points between all the projects designed by Pierre Minassian and his team: the minimal design that integrates discreetly and efficiently into the landscape, the use of raw materials such as concrete, steel, wood, stone and glass, the priority given to natural light through the presence of very large-scale glazed façades, and the idea that any building designed by the firm should provide the residents and visitors with a unique living experience.

Some of AUM Pierre Minassian’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped AUM Pierre Minassian achieve 15th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	8
Total Projects	13

14. LCR ARCHITECTES

LCR ARCHITECTES was founded in 1992 by architects Philippe Lapeyre, Jean-Claude Coustillières and Xavier Ratynski. The team is mainly made up of architects, but also graphic designers, draftsmen and a construction economist among others. Accustomed to carrying out major operations in fields such as culture, education, the tertiary sector, student housing, health, research, collective housing, transport, industry and banking for the most part, this multidisciplinary and expert team guarantees a contextual proposal as well as a real proximity with the contracting authority.

Some of LCR ARCHITECTES’s most prominent projects include:

SOUTHERN URBAN TELEPHERIC, Toulouse, France
Public College of Labarthe-sur-Lèze, Labarthe-sur-Lèze, France
Academy of Art Crafts (ESMA), Auzeville-Tolosane, France
EURALIS Headquarters in Lescar, Lescar, France
Jean Jaurès subway station, Toulouse, France

The following statistics helped LCR ARCHITECTES achieve 14th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	5
Total Projects	9

13. Atelier Roberta

Roberta is a creature with three heads. Three backgrounds, three skills, three landscape practices united in a single vision of the project. Roberta pays very specific attention to sites and territories. She relies on her intuition and extensive field experience to open up new avenues for further study. She likes to travel, by train or by road…

Every project is new. Roberta has no preconceptions, and hates recipes. She always asks herself the question of practicality, how to bring a designed project to life, and how to make it her own. She is also sensitive to new materials and technologies, and to innovations taking place on the other side of the border.

Some of Atelier Roberta’s most prominent projects include:

Jean Louis Étienne school, Coupvray, France
P+R park and ride, Vertou, France
ESIEE-IT school of engineering and digital expertises, Pontoise, France
Théâtre d’eau, Fumel, France
BAT – 170 housing units and shops, Paris, France

The following statistics helped Atelier Roberta achieve 13th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	7
Total Projects	12

12. Franklin Azzi Architecture

Franklin Azzi and his practice, founded in 2006, develop a transversal approach stimulated by the intertwining of different views and disciplines. In constantly working on architecture, interior architecture, design and contemporary art, he develops a way of designing and building that is applicable to all scales and typologies of space.

From urban micro-architecture such as embodied by the Eiffel Kiosque and its prefabricated structure, to towers in Dubai and Paris, via conversions of existing buildings such as the Alstom market buildings in Nantes, his interventions are based on a quest for sustainability to meet the needs of all users.

Some of Franklin Azzi Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

Sasaek – Horizons, Seoul, South Korea
EP YAYING, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
TOKO, WEBHELP’S HEADQUARTERS, Paris, France
Alstom Warehouses, Nantes Higher School of Fine Arts, Nantes, France
EIFFEL KIOSK, Paris, France

The following statistics helped Franklin Azzi Architecture achieve 12th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	2
Featured Projects	9
Total Projects	27

11. Coldefy

Thomas Coldefy and Isabel Van Haute are the duo of Coldefy & Associates Architects Urbanists, leading the diverse international team based in Lille, France. The firm is characterized by their dynamism and creativity, animated by an international tropism that drives them to participate regularly in professional events around the world as well as in large international competitions. Their originality and resourcefulness have brought them success in a number of entries, including the Hong Kong Design Institute which they won in 2006 against 162 teams.

Some of Coldefy’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Coldefy achieve 11th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	2
Featured Projects	6
Total Projects	8

10. Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes

Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes is an architectural studio based in Paris and in Vienna. Founded in 1993, the studio has built a strong reputation for exploring the dynamics between architecture and engineering.

Some of Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

Financial and commercial department of Voest Alpine Stahl, Linz, Austria
Foot and Cyclebridge over the Rhein, Huningue, France
Logistic Centre, Gennevilliers, France
Sport Centre Ladoumègue, Paris, France
LMH Headquarters, Tourcoing, France

The following statistics helped Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes achieve 10th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	9
Total Projects	25

9. LAN Architecture

LAN Architecture was founded by Benoit Jallon and Umberto Napolitano in 2002. The agency’s name echoes the partners’ intentions directly. LAN is precisely the acronym of Local Architecture Network and it refers to the local design network applied and developed through specific field skills, experts and authors attending on the projects. The double nationality of LAN enables to bridge different European countries.

In 2004 LAN architecture work was selected by the French Culture Minister for the “Nouveaux Albums des Jeunes Architectes” for its potential and talent. In six years time, the agency has earned a reputation and won competitions both in France and abroad.

Some of LAN Architecture’s most prominent projects include:

Hotel Residence in Atacama, Atacama Region, Chile
Children’s Toy Library, Bonneuil-sur-Marne, France
COMPANY HEADQUARTERS MARCHESINI FRANCE – SAINT MESMES, Saint-Mesmes, France
Sprengel Museum extension, Hanover, Germany
30 passive housing units, Paris, France

The following statistics helped LAN Architecture achieve 9th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	9
Total Projects	25

8. Hamonic+Masson & Associés

Hamonic+Masson & Associés is Gaëlle Hamonic, Jean-Christophe Masson and, since 2014, Marie-Agnès de Bailliencourt. The practice was founded in 1997, was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe prize in 2001, and in 2002 was awarded the Nouveaux Albums de la Jeune Architecture (NAJA).

The firm became recognized by the general public in 2003 by designing the Maison Métal in Paris’ Parc de la Villette. It was an event that placed Hamonic+Masson at the crossroads of art and architecture, a flexible place that allows for some adventurous undertakings. We have since staged events such as co-curating the French Pavilion at the 2008 Venice Biennial, and opened a series of exhibitions at venues such as the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine.

Some of Hamonic+Masson & Associés’s most prominent projects include:

HOME , Paris, France
New’R, Nantes, France
The Docks Dombasles: 25 apartments and offices, Le Havre, France
Centre des Archives Contemporaines, Fontainebleau, France
Urban Dock, Bordeaux, France

The following statistics helped Hamonic+Masson & Associés achieve 8th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	13

7. PPA architectures

PPA architectures is based in Toulouse, France is committed to fabricating urbanity through projects whose programs and contexts are analyzed and questioned from the point of view of use and construction. The agency tries to adjust to specific, generous and comfortable architectural and urban proposals a neutral, constructively flexible and frugal formalization. This intention, ambitious and pragmatic, relies on a collaborative, multidisciplinary and open work methodology to adapt to the contemporary conditions of a useful urbanism and architecture.

Some of PPA architectures’s most prominent projects include:

50 Modular Timber, Toulouse, France
Salle des fêtes de Pratgraussals, Albi, France
Barn in Pyrenees, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Pavilion M, Seilh, France
Martel House, Toulouse, France

The following statistics helped PPA architectures achieve 7th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	20

6. H2O Architectes

h2o architectes is an office of creative architectural design also specializing in the restoration of ancient monuments. It is lead by three architects: Charlotte Hubert architect dipl. DPLG and historical preservation architect, Jean-Jacques Hubert architect dipl. DPLG founder of the office and Antoine Santiard architect dipl. EPFL who joined in 2008.

Established as a firm in 2005, the leading architects have had multiple collaborations since 2000. They have executed projects and won international competitions both as independent architects as well as for other major architects (Bruno Decaris, Jakob+MacFarlane, Bernard Tschumi). h2o works on a wide scope of projects and scales including historical monuments and sites, urban planning, architecture and design.

Some of H2O Architectes’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped H2O Architectes achieve 6th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	17

5. NBJ architects

Created in 2000 by Elodie Nourrigat and Jacques Brion, N+B architects became NBJ Architectes in 2013. NBJ Architectes projects are inscribed in different scales, whether architectural or urban. Invested in the diffusion of architectural culture, they organize the annual Festival des Architectures Vives which invites young architects to intervene in the courtyards of private mansions in Montpellier and in the city of La Grande Motte.

Some of NBJ architects’s most prominent projects include:

House NB, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France
Urban Space and Parking in Carros, Carros, France
higth school in Morieres Les Avignon, Morières-lès-Avignon, France
Office of Technical Center, La Grande-Motte, France
Lycée Paul Valéry, Menton, France

The following statistics helped NBJ architects achieve 5th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

Featured Projects	10
Total Projects	42

4. FREAKS freearchitects

freearchitects is a Paris-based architecture firm lead by three architects favouring prospection, research and experimentation through projects and building process practices from small scale art installations to large scale architecture competitions.

Although nowadays their built projects are mostly located in France, FREAKS’s partners have lived and experienced a wide range of abroad working contexts such as San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, Berlin, Mumbai, Singapore, Istanbul and more.

Some of FREAKS freearchitects’s most prominent projects include:

SAMMODE research & development center, Lamotte-Beuvron, France
Refurbishment of the historical Strasbourg zoo’s pedagogical farm and new visitor center, Strasbourg, France
SUR MESURE, Paris, France
Pavillion in a garden, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Tribal Act Historical Tattoo and Piercing Parlor in Paris, Paris, France

The following statistics helped FREAKS freearchitects achieve 4th place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Finalist	1
Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	18

3. Atelier Zündel Cristea

Officially established in January of 2001, today AZC includes around thirty people organized into four areas: design, research, construction and administration of projects. Our teams are made up of young architects from all over the world, as the diversity of our own respective Swiss-American and Romanian origins has brought us to an understanding of the interest in crossing cultures and transgressing boundaries.

Consequently, the efficiency and creativity of our firm are bolstered by a constant effort in observing what’s going on elsewhere, in striving to work outside our country, in taking an interest in differences. Each of our projects are embodied by a strategy of qualitatively occupying sites, without preconceptions regarding their geographic location, their programmatic requirements, or their scale.

Some of Atelier Zündel Cristea’s most prominent projects include:

The following statistics helped Atelier Zündel Cristea achieve 3rd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
Featured Projects	13
Total Projects	49

2. archi5

archi5 was founded in 2003, the fruit of its founders’ common agency experience and the approach they share to architecture. A context-based approach to projects is key: the site, the programme, the social and cultural challenges are all examined, analyzed and compared. These data are then transformed into questions.

The projects offer a dynamic and comprehensive response to those issues to the highest standard that has come to be archi5’s trademark. This approach is visible, legible in every building. It confers meaning and form and is perceptible in the projects’ applications, spaces and environmental impact. It is the essence of our confidence in architecture, its capacity to enhance human kinds’ environment. The agency uses its acumen and know-how to instill this ethos throughout and to guarantee its continuity.

Some of archi5’s most prominent projects include:

The Marcel Sembat High School, Sotteville-lès-Rouen, France
Jean Louis Étienne school, Coupvray, France
Angela Davis school, Bezons, France
Louise Michel High School, Gisors, France
Mont de Marsan Mediatheque, Mont-de-Marsan, France

Top image: Familistère dwellings, Montreuil, France

The following statistics helped archi5 achieve 2nd place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	5
A+Awards Finalist	4
Featured Projects	17
Total Projects	34

1. Dominique Coulon & Associés

Located in the heart of Strasbourg, Dominique Coulon & Associés is a firm of architects of national and international renown. For more than 25 years, the agency has earned a reputation for the quality of the public facilities it designs. It has worked on a wide and varied range of programmes, including a media library, music school, auditorium, school complex, swimming pool, sports facilities, a residential home for the dependent elderly and housing. Dominique Coulon and his associate Steve Lethos Duclos allow their intuition to lead the way as they seek to develop contextual projects that combine contrast and complexity, where the outer envelope hints at inner richness.

Some of Dominique Coulon & Associés’s most prominent projects include:

Housing for elderly people, Huningue, France
‘Pierre Bottero’ media library and park in Pélissanne, Pélissanne, France
Multicultural centre in Isbergues, Isbergues, France
Regional Court and Industrial Tribunal in Montmorency, Montmorency, France
Inter-Generation Centre in Venarey-Les Laumes, Venarey-les-Laumes, France

The following statistics helped Dominique Coulon & Associés achieve 1st place in the 30 Best Architecture Firms in France:

A+Awards Winner	1
A+Awards Finalist	3
Featured Projects	35
Total Projects	42

Why Should I Trust Architizer’s Ranking?

With more than 30,000 architecture firms and over 130,000 projects within its database, Architizer is proud to host the world’s largest online community of architects and building product manufacturers. Its celebrated A+Awards program is also the largest celebration of architecture and building products, with more than 400 jurors and hundreds of thousands of public votes helping to recognize the world’s best architecture each year.

Architizer also powers firm directories for a number of AIA (American Institute of Architects) Chapters nationwide, including the official directory of architecture firms for AIA New York.

An example of a project page on Architizer with Project Award Badges highlighted

A Guide to Project Awards

The blue “+” badge denotes that a project has won a prestigious A+Award as described above. Hovering over the badge reveals details of the award, including award category, year, and whether the project won the jury or popular choice award.

The orange Project of the Day and yellow Featured Project badges are awarded by Architizer’s Editorial team, and are selected based on a number of factors. The following factors increase a project’s likelihood of being featured or awarded Project of the Day status:

Project completed within the last 3 years
A well written, concise project description of at least 3 paragraphs
Architectural design with a high level of both functional and aesthetic value
High quality, in focus photographs
At least 8 photographs of both the interior and exterior of the building
Inclusion of architectural drawings and renderings
Inclusion of construction photographs

There are 7 Projects of the Day each week and a further 31 Featured Projects. Each Project of the Day is published on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Stories, while each Featured Project is published on Facebook. Each Project of the Day also features in Architizer’s Weekly Projects Newsletter and shared with 170,000 subscribers.

We’re constantly look for the world’s best architects to join our community. If you would like to understand more about this ranking list and learn how your firm can achieve a presence on it, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@architizer.com.

Reference

Architecture

recessed angular frames form art house cinema’s facade in france

By Zarkon Group,24/02/2023

L’Atalante art house cinema by Farid Azib in Bayonne

Paris-based architectural firm Farid Azib reconstructs L’Atalante art house cinema in the center of Bayonne, France, forming a contemporary white angular facade. Originally built in 1990, the edifice is located on the waterfront of Amiral-Antoine-Sala on the right bank of the Adour, just below the Saint-Esprit bridge leading to the city center. The refurbishment program demanded the conjunction of two cinemas adjoining one building and expanding the dedicated theater plan. Aiming for a design that retains the historical character of the site yet explores the possibilities of architectural modernity, the project shapes contrasting forms and materials displaying its dynamic frame in striking white color, standing out between the rest of the buildings on the embankment.

L’Atalante art house cinema | all images by Luc Boegly

angular frames are a conceptual nod to the Seventh Art

Drawing from a conceptual take on windows and frames in connection to the Seventh Art, the design team at Farid Azib Architects focuses on the main feature of the facade’s openings to form the building’s external identity, sharing ‘the cinema facade is essential in enhancing our visibility with its openings on to the river and its uniqueness which makes it very cinematic-like’.

The frames are exposed to the southwest allowing the light on each side to pass through both the interior and the exterior, regarding natural and artificial light respectively. ‘The facade stands all at once discreet and surprising, integrated and singular, asymmetrical, deconstructed and harmonious, angular and wise, soft and open’. The glass apertures project landscapes, movements, silhouettes, and lights like an ever-changing film scene underlined by the orientations of the different viewpoints. Thus the facade is made up of prismatic projecting volumes, created with light prefabricated elements forming an interaction between the interior and exterior space.

the project sets up a contemporary white angular facade

The cinema hall undergoes specialized interior planning

The interior arrangement of the building consists of a new hall, a bar-restaurant, and cinema zones, combining the reception and dining area through a system of a wooden mesh on three levels channeling the flows and allowing the installation of access control points to the cinema halls. Two apartment units are housed within the plot of L’Atalante, setting sound protection as one of the major planning factors.

The transversal bar-restaurant forms the strategic link between the existing transformed spaces and the extension, shaping a long wooden counter made of oak wood sourced from the original building’s flooring construction. Thus, the cinema and music bar-restaurant rooms are designed as airtight boxes to avoid any sound leaks. Acoustic lining and independent double wall, double frame, uncoupled from the structure, as well as floors with independently treated slabs complement the protected framework. The restoration remodels the screening rooms providing expanded seating areas and larger projection screens. The structure opens toward the city and the riverbank shaping wide frames along with loggias and terraces.

recessed prismatic frames form the building’s external identity

Reference

Architecture

Bureau conceals Thérèse cabin in France with boulder-like concrete finish

By Zarkon Group,15/01/2023

Architecture studio Bureau has used a rough concrete finish to disguise this small wooden cabin in France as a boulder, distinguishable only by a porthole-style window.

Named Thérèse, the structure is located in the rural grounds of contemporary art space Bermuda outside the town of Sergy and provides space for one person to live comfortably.

Concrete exterior of Thérèse cabin in France by Bureau — Bureau has created a boulder-like cabin in France

Bureau, formerly known as Bureau A, conceived the project as a companion piece to its 2014 project Antoine – a cabin in the Swiss Alps that was also disguised as a boulder.

Both projects pay tribute to the work of Swiss writer Chales-Ferdinand Ramuz, whose novel Derborence tells the story of a shepherd named Antoine who becomes trapped under rocks following a landslide, shortly after his marriage to Thérèse.

Woodland with boulder-like structure — It has a rough concrete finish to disguise it in woodland

“Thérèse was thought and built along the same lines as Antoine, creating interconnected dependencies of art and other travelling communities,” said Bureau.

“Habitation is political here, as the two shelters are nowhere near commercial or speculative routes or agendas,” it continued. “They offer a place to many outside any financial or economic considerations.”

Porthole-style window of Thérèse in France — All that distinguishes it is a porthole-style window

Nestled in a wooded area close to France’s border with Switzerland, all that gives away the presence of the cabin is a single, large porthole-style window.

Underneath Thérèse’s rough concrete exterior is a pyramidal timber structure, sitting atop light foundations that give it the potential to be relocated in future.

Inside, the cabin provides enough space for a single person to live comfortably, with room for a portable wood-burning stove, a table with benches and niches for storage.

Beneath the openable porthole window is a bench for viewing the surrounding landscape, alongside a ladder that leads up to a small mezzanine sleeping area.

Wood-lined cabin interior designed by Bureau — Underneath the concrete is a wooden structure

Exposed timber panels line the entirety of Thérèse’s interior and have also been used to construct the furniture, chosen to provide a warm contrast to the rocky exterior.

Wooden ladder to mezzanine of Thérèse — A mezzanine is accessed by a ladder

Bureau is an architecture, design and research studio led by architects Daniel Zamarbide, Carine Pimenta and Galliane Zamarbide, with offices in Geneva and Lisbon.

As well as the previously completed cabin Antoine, the studio’s other projects include an inflatable PVC nightclub in Geneva that was designed to host the annual party of the Federation of Swiss Architects.

The photography is by Dylan Perrenoud.

Reference

france

How are these architecture firms ranked?

30. BFV ARCHITECTES

29. Architecture Patrick Mauger

28. A+Architecture

27. Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane / Architects (DGT)

26. PETITDIDIERPRIOUX

25. PCA-STREAM

24. NZI Architectes

23. GARDERA-D

22. STUDIO 02

21. Taillandier Architectes Associés

20. Atelier Stéphane Fernandez

19. Mikou Design Studio

18. studio razavi architecture

17. designbuildLAB

16. Nomade Architectes

15. AUM Pierre Minassian

14. LCR ARCHITECTES

13. Atelier Roberta

12. Franklin Azzi Architecture

11. Coldefy

10. Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes

9. LAN Architecture

8. Hamonic+Masson & Associés

7. PPA architectures

6. H2O Architectes

5. NBJ architects

4. FREAKS freearchitects

3. Atelier Zündel Cristea

2. archi5

1. Dominique Coulon & Associés

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L’Atalante art house cinema by Farid Azib in Bayonne

angular frames are a conceptual nod to the Seventh Art

The cinema hall undergoes specialized interior planning

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