START-Ivry: “Form Follows Life” – Rethinking Housing around the Resident

At the confluence of the Seine and the Marne in Ivry-sur-Seine – part of the Métropole du Grand Paris – five slender towers have redesigned the city skyline. With 288 social, intermediate, and market-rate housing units, the START-Ivry project does more than reshape the Greater Paris skyline – it represents a new housing paradigm.

START is an acronym for Social, Transformable, Affordable, Resilient Typologies. This project, by STAR strategies + architecture, is founded on the conviction that housing needs to adapt to residents’ lives and needs. Rather than merely a slogan, “Form Follows Life” functions here as a key design principle.

Flexible apartments that adapt to residents’ needs

Society is changing. Household types are more varied, temporary cohabitation is common, and single-parent families are increasing. Against this backdrop, inflexible, standardized plans often fall short. START responds by rethinking housing from the inside out, restoring the central role of the floor plan in organizing domestic space. The result is flexible apartments adaptable to residents’ changing needs.

The complex’s exterior reveals its internal organization, with the geometry of the volumes, the rhythm of the windows, and the color accents all serving everyday living and reflecting the quality of the apartments. With a 14 m plan depth and up to 56 m in height, the towers are designed to optimize daylighting and cross ventilation, and support a range of unit types. Ninety percent of units have double or triple exposures, many with views of the Seine or the Marne. On the seventh floor of the towers, a shared space reinforces the project’s communal dimension.

The façades avoid a rigid grid pattern, with windows, balconies, and loggias placed to best respond to resident needs. Exposed concrete and red paint reference Ivry’s architectural tradition, while color accents – from doors to reveals – serve as a visual code that signals the different unit types.

>>> Discover Paysage Habité–Résidence Harmonie, an inclusive vision of collective housing designed by Hérault Arnod Architectures in Paris

A sustainable social complex in the heart of Greater Paris

With a total area of 22,863 m², of which 19,700 m² is residential, START-Ivry includes 14 street-level retail units, creating a community hub in this urban renewal area. Restaurants, gyms, bakeries, pharmacies, and supermarkets animate the lower section of the building, which opens onto 2600 m² of new public space, comprising a plaza facing the Seine and two pedestrian routes that cross the complex and frame views of the cable-stayed bridge.

Energy consumption is 20% lower than current standards; 20% of the concrete used in the structure and façades is low-carbon; and heating is provided by a geothermal system. The project emphasizes environmental performance but its true innovation lies in spatial resilience, with the buildings designed to adapt over time to changing ways of life.

Principles of adaptability and quality ensure flexibility in the apartments, offering a variety of housing types. The emphasis placed on the floor plan represents a fundamental element from which the entire project develops, connecting residents’ needs with the architectural and urban planning approach.

>>> Also discover Rue Bouret, a Parisian social housing complex designed by PietriArchitectes