Refurbishment of the Ministry of Defence

Two transformation issues coexist here; a site more than 8 hectares in area but also the now somewhat disparate buildings constructed throughout the previous century.
The transformation depended on two main ideas:
– to make the site a unifying « mat » whilst the visible support of a new, completely pedestrian use of the site; and
– to inscribe this unity upon the buildings themselves.
Cleared of vehicles, the site becomes a vast meadow brought alive by its topography and the large and small building alterations, all decked in a deep brownish rust color. The 3,000-tree plantation, a large water basin, a sculptured staircase reinforce the extraordinary mutation.
As for the transformation of the buildings, it follows an internal logic specific to the typology of each building.

Three main buildings were identified:
– the ENSTA from the 1930s whose rehabilitation demolished the additions that partially disfigured it;
– the base of the elliptical tower with its two radical features – a depth of over 50m in places and the omni-presence of a circular configuration. Without denying it, a new meaning was given by systematically introducing daylight into the center of the mass; and
– the residential tower annex with the same excessive depth defect. There too, inserting a patio has given life to the new program.