ESCP Business School: the historic campus begins its transformation!

Press release
Paris, 19 November 2025

On 14 November 2025, ESCP Business School launched the renovation of its historic campus located on Avenue de la République in Paris. The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Marie-Christine Lemardeley, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of higher education, research and student life, as well as numerous figures from the academic, economic and institutional worlds. Led by the Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry and ESCP Business School, this project, designed by Ateliers 2/3/4/, aims to transform an iconic site inaugurated in 1898 into a vertical, sustainable and innovative campus, designed to meet the educational, digital and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

In the heart of Paris, a vertical campus

The founding site of ESCP Business School, the ‘République’ campus has adapted to two centuries of change in society and education. Built around an iconic Haussmann-style building, it has expanded over time. The school has opened up to the world, notably by extending its influence through new European campuses.

Today, our society aspires to new relationships with both its physical and human environment. New technologies are creating lifestyles in which time and space are taking on a whole new dimension.

Thinking about the renovation of this prestigious complex in the heart of the capital means, beyond the programme and the site itself, attempting to identify the mechanisms capable of transforming it in line with the concerns of the times.

ESCP will be a campus

Expanding, stretching, adding depth, but also making it
legible, intelligible and bringing in nature: it is through these fundamental actions that a vertical campus unfolds and that the values of ‘excellence, uniqueness, creativity and plurality’ desired by the client are incorporated into the architecture of the site.
To achieve this, the courtyard is visually enlarged to extend across the entire campus, of which it is the unifying centre. Through the use of transparency, it offers a bright, green environment.

To achieve this, the courtyard is visually enlarged to radiate across the entire campus, of which it is the unifying centre. Through the use of transparency, it offers a luminous, plant-filled environment and asserts itself as an expression of the school’s community spirit.

ESCP will be Parisian

The southern part of the courtyard retains the institutional image of the building and its Haussmannian character.
The brasserie, showroom, boutique and reception area are all open, bright and elegant spaces, accessible to all, combining tradition and modernity.

ESCP will be a place of well-being

The northern extension of the courtyard heralds ESCP’s new identity of serendipity, modularity and fluidity.
The courtyard surface is recessed, while the façade
becomes transparent, with the large multipurpose hall
housing Cowork&Food on one side and the Study Space
on the other. A place of serenity, it is organised around
the triangular volume of the former courtyard and bathed
in zenithal light.

ESCP will be organic and sustainable

The galleries, corridors and lift landings become genuine places for meeting and exchange which, connected to each other, can be explored both horizontally and vertically, like the landscaped grounds of a campus. Each major programme entity is associated with a large outdoor space in the form of planted terraces and balconies. They form a constellation of greenery that gravitates around the historic courtyard.

ESCP will be rational

This profound transformation has been made possible thanks to the redesign of the building’s 1970s distribution column, which now allows for the management of level differences, and the creation of a link between the wings of the Haussmann-style building. This new distribution structure now offers greater proximity and flexibility in the daily use of the Learning Space and Work Space.

ESCP will be unique

Each roof will be home to a hanging garden. The upper floors of the 1970s building (5th and 6th floors) house the school’s administration and are overlooked by the large terrace garden on the 8th floor. This will become the highlight of the campus, offering spectacular views of the Paris skyline.
In addition, here are some pictures of the kick-off ceremony and the site visit.

In addition, here are a few images of the ceremony to mark the start of construction and the site visit.

Project owner: CCI Paris Ile-de-France

Architect and landscape architect: Ateliers 2/3/4/

With: Structural engineering: TPFI – Fluid engineering: TPFI – Energy performance engineering: EODD – Operations/maintenance engineering: Gescem (TPFI) – Facade: Arcora – BIM: IMPACT (TPFI subsidiary) – Quantity surveyor: AE75 – Signage: Locomotion – Decontamination: LMPR – OPC: Batscop – CSD Faces: Fire Safety Consultancy – MOEX: ATELIER MOEX

Programme: Campus / Catering / Cowork&Food
/ Brasserie / Cafeteria / Study Space / Library /
Amphitheatre / FeelWell Space / Lounge Space / Rooftop /
Panoramic terrace / Tiered terraces

Students: 5,029, Teaching and research staff: 145, Administrative staff:
345, Foundation & Alumni: 25, TOTAL: 5,544

HQE labels and certifications: EFFINATURE / OSMOZ /
BREEAM Excellent / HQE good

Project area: 28,348 m²
Outdoor area: 5,613 m²

Cost of works: €57 million (September 2021)

Timeline: Competition: January 2022
Completion: 2028

Perspective credits: © Ateliers 2/3/4/ © Alma Studio

Photo credits: © Ateliers 2/3/4/ © Salem Mostefaoui