Award-winning architects blend old and new design in France's UNIC project

The French are no strangers to change. Their new president Emmanuel Macron has vowed to reboot the French economy and find new ways to tackle climate change.

Change is also afoot on the streets of France, where new architecture is melding with the old. In Clichy-Batignolles, an outer suburb of Paris, a new neighbourhood is under way.

Here, a 54-hectare site is being revamped into a place for people to work, live and play. It includes the 10-hectare Martin Luther King Park, which was selected as a site to host the Olympic village as part of Paris’ bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. The bid failed but the urban renewal project continued.

More than 3400 units will be built here, including many at the 13-floor UNIC apartment building. Designed by Beijing-based architecture firm MAD, this development promises to stand out from the rest. MAD won the project through an international design competition in collaboration with local French architects Accueil–Biecher Architectes. 

With a striking outline created by a series of undulating balconies, this project has a unique identity. Its bare concrete facade communicates a simple, pared back elegance. Best of all, these apartments open up to one of the world’s most desirable panoramas: from the upper floors, residents will be treated to a view of the Eiffel Tower –  a romantic backdrop for every night of the week. Even if it is just le baked beans on toast.

The balconies are generously proportioned and encourage residents to live a life outdoors as much as indoors.

“The balconies here are seen as a buffer between the external condition and the internal condition of the space designed by architecture,” says Claudia Taborda, senior lecturer in landscape Architecture at the Queensland University of Technology. “It’s a space of continuity.”

Yet the notion of indoor meets outdoor space is nothing new to the people of France. Chic balconies with classic french door design are a common sight throughout the country.

Taborda points to French architect Jean Nouvel and design firm Lacaton et Vassal, who have reimagined the typical French balcony into a more contemporary style.

“I think the balcony is not a novelty in the French context, not at all,” Taborda says. “The balcony is a presence all the time. If we think of the projects of Jay Nouvelle, Lacaton et Vassal we see the balcony is there, just represented in a different form.”

UNIC will be near the Paris Courthouse – a 160 metre-high skyscraper designed by famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. The courthouse, which is expected to host an average of 5000 visitors a day, is currently under construction.

Adjacent to UNIC will be the Martin Luther King Park, where MAD has envisioned a blurred boundary between the architecture and nature. This will be achieved through a series of terraces representing stacked courtyards.

“What we see here is that the architectural form, it’s quite plastic, it is really fusing the morphology of it is floor plans as a layering system,” Taborda says.

“And we see two very clear and distinct terraces from the plan, but the park is a feature that is a common ground for all people living within the precinct.”

The park adds another dimension to the entire Clichy-Batignolles project, she says.

“The real estate developer understands how much more value is added to the architectural project itself and I’m not talking only about financial value, but before that comes environmental, social and cultural value,” Taborda says.

“We have that done before, over 100 years ago with Central Park in Manhattan. Without Central park, that real estate land would not have the same value as it has today.”

Completion of the Clichy-Batignolles urban revitalisation project is scheduled for 2019.