More specifically, within the former car park, NZI inserted two buildings, in addition to the street-facing structure, accommodating 83 studio-type housing units (T1 and T1 bis), shared spaces and administrative offices to ensure the proper functioning of the residence, as well as a ground-floor activity space. The whole project is organised around a newly landscaped, planted courtyard with open-air circulation spaces.

 

Context

 

Located at the corner of rue Nollet and rue de la Condamine, the highly enclosed site originally comprised a street-front car park and a main building at the heart of the block. Dating from the 1930s, the ensemble was built along the plot boundaries over four levels above ground floor, with translucent openings providing natural light to the car park.

 

The first three levels, built in concrete, were in good condition, while the top two levels featured a steel structure with generous ceiling height beneath the ridge. The garage roof consisted of asbestos cement panels, while the street-facing building was covered with tiled roofing.

 

The plot is surrounded on all four sides by neighbouring buildings at close proximity and adjoins eight co-owned properties with limited visual depth. On such a fully constrained site, a new construction would have resulted in a highly restrictive outcome dictated by setback regulations, creating direct overlooking views with neighbouring party walls and a predominantly north-facing orientation for many dwellings. Moreover, total demolition would have generated significant waste, dust and disturbances.

 

axonometry old

	Site plan

By contrast, despite its nearly century-long presence and its heritage qualities—such as artist-studio-type openings on the party walls—the building’s sound structure was well suited to accommodate the proposed programme.

 

Design Approach

 

The demolition of a complete structural bay along a north–south axis made it possible to create two distinct buildings and introduce direct sunlight into the heart of the block. This intervention allowed multiple dwellings to benefit from south-east light and enabled the creation of a true ground-level garden with restored soil, around which shared spaces—such as the leisure room, bicycle storage and staff offices— are organised, providing interfaces for collective life. All these spaces benefit from natural daylight.

 

The garage structure and steel trusses were retained, preserving the memory of the site, while the two new building volumes follow the structural logic of the existing framework. Set more than 14 metres apart and overlooking the new landscaped courtyard, they offer a high level of residential comfort.

 

	axonometry new

This new north–south axis also opens up new visual corridors and, within a previously enclosed plot, provides neighbouring buildings with deeper and more open views, all the more so as the project fits within the existing R+4 volume without any additional height. Integration of the programme into the site

 

At the heart of the block, two sufficiently spaced buildings are thus freed. The first, west-facing, is connected to the street-front building and follows the volumetric continuity of the existing structure. Its roof was fully renovated, replacing tiles with standing-seam metal roofing.

 

The street-facing building was entirely reconstructed using CLT timber panels (external walls, partitions and load-bearing walls), insulated with wood fibre. All window frames are made of wood.

 

The housing layouts are simple, clear and oriented east–west with views onto the courtyard. No dwelling faces north.

 

Under the construction

Access and circulation

 

The entrances to the housing units and the activity space, both located directly on rue Nollet, are clearly separated. The entrance hall, visually open through to the heart of the block, reveals the depth of the plot from the street. The permeability of the circulation spaces towards the courtyard opens views onto the garden level, which is visually connected to all shared areas. All circulation spaces are 100 percent naturally lit.

The ground floor of the street-facing building acts as a catalyst for movement. Access to staff areas (offices) is distinct from public and residents’ access. The reception desk, strategically positioned, oversees the entrance hall and access to both buildings. The waste storage room is located along residents’ exit routes, as is the laundry room, which—considered a key shared space—also benefits from natural light. Finally, the common room is easily accessible from the entrance hall.

 

Each building is served by a naturally lit stairwell and an elevator. The existing basement beneath the street-front building was renovated and now houses technical rooms, storage areas and changing rooms.

 

The project includes 6 T1 bis units (average 33 sq m), 21 T1 units (average 18 sq m) and 56 T1’ units (average 21 sq m), for a total of 83 rooms and a net residential area of 1,765 sq m, including 5% of units designed for accessibility (PMR) at ground level —all within the existing building envelope.

 

Ground floor	First floor

TECHNICAL DATA

Location 29 rue Nollet, 75017 Paris, France

Client RIVP / HÉNÉO

General Contractor Genere

Design Team NZI Architectes (Lead Architect)

Ecallard (Cost Consultancy) I+A (Structural Engineering) B52 (Building Services / MEP) Etamine (Environmental Quality / HQE)

Gross Floor Area (GFA) Existing – 4 125 sq m Proposed – 2,450 sq m

Certifications / Labels NF Habitat HQE Effinergie Renovation E3C1 Bio-based Building Label – Level 1 BIM Level 2

Budget €9 million (excl. VAT)

Schedule Competition – 2019 Completion – December 2025

Photographer Frédéric Delangle
Plans NZI Architectes
 

Longitudiinal section old	Longitudiinal section new

Founded in 2012, NZI was born from the meeting of two complementary backgrounds: that of Sandra de Giorgio, trained at ENSA Paris-Belleville, and that of Gianluca Gaudenzi, an architect graduated from Marne-la- Vallée after a dual academic path between Florence and France.

 

Before joining forces, each developed their perspective within agencies with strong identities, shaping a practice in which constructive rigor engages in dialogue with a keen attention to urban contexts and uses.

 

From this shared trajectory emerges a common appetite for complex projects—those that cannot be resolved through formulas or predefined answers. At NZI, there is no fixed methodology: each project is approached as a field of exploration. Design is driven by a constant critical dialogue between the two founders, a true intellectual ping-pong that allows every hypothesis to be tested before converging toward a clear, refined solution, never overdrawn.

 

Early on, NZI engaged with still largely unexplored territories, notably through participatory housing and bio-based construction projects. However, the agency rejects any form of reductive specialization. While transformation now occupies a central place in its work, it is understood as a creative act in its own right: transforming a car park into social housing, offices into student residences, or a commercial hall into a sports facility requires a careful, unbiased reading of the existing structure, grounded in urban continuity, constructive restraint, and the preservation of the site’s memory.

 

This transversal approach has enabled NZI to develop a broad expertise spanning housing, office buildings, and a wide range of facilities—sports, educational, cultural, and religious—both in new construction and transformation projects. Large-scale developments, such as the sports and cultural complex in Saint-Germain-en-Laye or the future sports facility in the Python-Duvernois ZAC, illustrate the agency’s ability to design hybrid objects, at the intersection of building and fragment of the city.

 

Today composed of a team of around fifteen collaborators, the agency advocates for a carefully scaled structure, conducive to deep engagement with demanding projects. A guiding principle runs through its entire practice: to reject ready-made solutions, to question technical and regulatory frameworks, and to allow each project to reveal its own internal logic. At NZI, architecture does not repeat itself—it is reinvented with every project.

Release: FE Consulting, Paris