Plug-in City 75: House on Floating Charge

Stéphane Malka Architecture has designed a clever way of optimizing the energy efficiency of older urban structures while working within the restrictions of Parisian building codes. Malka’s Plug-in City 75 design envisions attaching parasitic wooden cubes to the facade of a 1970s-era building, extending the living space and significantly reducing the building’s annual energy consumption by approximately 75 percent.

The innovative design is slated for a 1970s-era building in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement. Like similar buildings in the city, this one is burdened with low energy performance due to thermal bridges, poor insulation, and permeable windows. In addition, the apartments were too small and gloomy, which led the co-owners to mandate Stephane Malka to optimize their properties.

However, current building laws are quite restrictive and do not allow for the structures to be raised to make way for better, more efficient space. Since the Alur law (a new property law which relaxed planning laws, particularly those for rooftops, and introduced rent-stabilization measures) does not allow the building to be raised, architects decided to graft the building with a succession of extensions, bow-windows and loggias. Each inhabitant control the necessary surface area needed for its own development upon request.

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Materials provided by Stephane Malka Architecture