The meticulous renovation by COVE Architectes and CALQ Architectes is structured around two main operations: the renovation of the façades and the restoration of the massive stone pillars. To meet contemporary standards of energy efficiency and comfort, new openings were incorporated that subtly evoke the rhythm and character of the original workshops, while the painstaking work of master stonemasons enabled the complete revitalisation of the original structure.
The project is completed with the expansion of the interior courtyard and the transformation of 2,850 m² of offices and common areas into a harmonious work environment. Inspired by the original legacy, the project restores the building's prominence, both in its façades and interior.
"Sentier" by COVE Architectes + CALQ Architectes. Photograph by Maxime Verret.
Project description by COVE Architectes + CALQ Architectes
Revitalizing an office building through facade transformation in Paris
1865 - 1980
Built in the mid-19th century, this building originally housed textile workshops. In the 1980s, it underwent its first transformation into offices, an intervention that partly obscured its industrial heritage. Large smoked-glass curtain walls replaced the original workshop windows and concealed the stone pillars that had long articulated its façades. Reimagining this earlier transformation—perceived as a loss of the site’s memory—became the starting point for our project, aiming to restructure and revive the entire building.
2025
With the façades slated for replacement to meet contemporary standards of energy efficiency and user comfort, the project sought to recall the building’s industrial past. This work revealed and restored the massive stone pillars, once hidden behind the 1980s façade, while the geometry of the new window frames and the selection of specific openings subtly echoed the rhythm and character of the original workshops. The project also reimagined the inner courtyard, enlarging the patio at basement level (SS1), and transformed 2,850 m2 of office and communal spaces into a harmonious work environment.
Reveal the original structure
The smoked-glass curtain walls added in the 1980s hid the stone pillars that once gave the façades of these former workshops their character. Inside, these pillars had also been coated with plaster and render.
Guided by the material presence of the original structure, our intervention sought to restore the stone pillars to their rightful prominence, allowing them to express the character of the building both on the façades and within the interior.
Restore the stone pillars
Damaged by the 1980s works and embedded with metal beams and cement mortar, these stone pillars revealed their fragility to us, as well as the care required to ensure their preservation.
Master stonemasons deployed their craft to restore this primary structure. Through cutting, carving, grafting, and fine chiseling, the material was carefully tended, allowing these pillars to be fully revitalized.
Crafting a façade echoing the building’s industrial heritage
The original façade of these former textile workshops bore the hallmarks of a 19th-century industrial building, with tallverticalwindowssetwithinarobust stone framework.
The 1980s transformation into office spaces entirely obscured this industrial legacy, replacing the workshop windows and cloaking the stone pillars behind large smoked-glass curtain walls.
Once the stone pillars were revealed, new window frames were carefully designed to evoke the industrial past of the site, while upgrading both comfort and energy performance.
