START-Ivry: Housing That Adapts to Life

In Ivry-sur-Seine, Greater Paris, STAR strategies + architecture completes START-Ivry, a pilot ensemble of five slender towers that treats the dwelling as a living system. Instead of standardised plans, the project begins from the resident, proving that adaptability can deliver better housing without increasing surface area or budgets.

Conceived as Social, Transformable, Affordable and Resilient Typologies, START-Ivry restores the floor plan to centre stage. Kitchens can migrate, rooms can subdivide, and adjacent units can be combined or split. The result is housing that evolves with life events—remote work, blended families, or a returning adult child—so the home adapts to its inhabitants, not the other way around.

Housing That Adapts to People

The project assembles a broad mix of studios to five-bedroom units, plus “bonus” and “plus” configurations for edge cases such as single parents or cohabitation. Super-adaptable two-bed types accept varied household logics, while divisible larger units can become a new, independent flat. This strategy ties spatial flexibility to household resilience, keeping homes useful across decades.

Inside–Out Architectural Expression

Geometry follows domestic use: volumes are exceptionally slim—about 14 m deep, up to 56 m tall—to maximise daylight, cross-ventilation and views to the Seine and Marne. Openings, balconies, “plugs”, and loggias are positioned by interior need rather than a rigid grid, producing a façade that reads as life in motion. Colour accents act as an architectural code, while raw concrete and red paint echo Ivry’s modernist legacy.

Sustainability Rooted in Real Life

Beyond certificates, START-Ivry links environmental, social, and economic gains. The scheme targets around 20% energy reduction versus current norms, uses low-carbon concrete for structure and facades, and draws on geothermal heating. Critically, divisible dwellings can add homes without extra materials, generate income for residents, and mitigate embodied carbon through reuse of existing fabric.

Inverse Method and a Culture of Experimentation

The process inverted convention: the architect was selected first on method, then developers competed to realise that vision. Eight months of joint workshops aligned city, land manager, planners, contractors and future operators around shared design principles. In Ivry—home to experimental housing by Jean Renaudie and Renee Gailhoustet—START stands as a contemporary tool for urban inclusion and controlled affordability.

START-Ivry is both manifesto and demonstration: architecture shaped by plans and people rather than facades. By articulating adaptability as a design grammar, STAR strategies + architecture delivers generous, future-proof housing within tight constraints, advancing a Paris-wide conversation about quality, equity, and climate-aligned living.

Technical Sheet