Chamber of Notaries of Paris Paris, France

Chambre des Notaires de Paris: Renovation of an iconic building

Mission : Analysis, Feasibility, Programming, Competition Organization

Analyse, étude de Faisabilité, Programmation architecturale, Organisation de Concours d'architecture bureaux bâtiment tertiaire

Mission : Analysis, Feasibility, Programming, Competition Organization

The genesis
Context
Programming
Concours d’architecture
The winning project & the finalists

Located on the Place du Châtelet, on the banks of the Seine right in the heart of Paris, the Chambre des Notaires is the historic institution that saw the birth of the profession.

Through an architectural competition, members of the Chambre des Notaires de Paris wanted to renovate the building, rethinking its internal organization, the activities it hosts, and reintegrate the building into the local dynamic contemporary.

More than just renovating the Hôtel de la Chambre des Notaires de Paris, the aim was to carry out a thorough programmatic restructuring and a genuine to reflect on the challenges facing the profession, to take advantage of the privileged position of the building, to reinforce the presence of the notary’s office.

Hello BAM,
We would like to consult you on the organization of an architectural competition for the complete renovation of our historic building on the Place du Chatelet in Paris.
Good morning, Mr. President,
I can see the building between the Théâtre de la Ville and the Théâtre du Chatelet, it's magnificent. We would be delighted to accompany you.
Great, I'll send you our call for projects and an invitation to show you around.
All right, we'll be able to get a better idea of the scope of the project.

Context

A prime location in the heart of Paris

At the crossroads of two major thoroughfares, one for tourists linking Place Saint-Michel to the Beaubourg-les Halles complex, the other for shoppers stretching along Rue de Rivoli, between the future Samaritaine and the Hôtel de Ville, the Chambre des Notaires enjoys an exceptional combination of medieval, modern and contemporary heritage, all within a five-minute walk. However, in the heart of an area where remarkable buildings are the norm, between the Saint-Jacques tower, the Théâtre de la Ville and the Théâtre du Châtelet, the Chambre struggles to capture the attention of passers-by.

A place of uninterrupted traffic, the Place de Chatelet – despite its beauty – is unwelcoming at the time of the project. The project was to initiate a process of reappropriation of the square by pedestrians and a reduction in car traffic, or even the “pedestrianization” of the district, which will progress as the role of the car diminishes.

The program

Creating the notary's flagship

Mainly used as a workplace by employees of the Chambre des Notaires, the Hôtel du Châtelet takes little advantage of its privileged position in the capital. To remedy this situation, the Chamber intends to change the building’s primary function, which is mainly administrative, to one more focused on welcoming notaries and the public. However, the Chambre des Notaires de Paris must not abandon its symbolic, institutional and historical role.

The ambitions of the Paris Notaries' Chamber project can be summed up in four major objectives:

Turning the building into a true "Maison des Notaires": Already regularly visited by the Company's notaries, even though many of them know little about the building, or have never seen it orhad no opportunity to visit it other than when they were sworn in; the ambition is to strengthen the building's ability to become a true meeting place and a place to live, federating and driving confraternity for the notaries of the Company.
Opening notaries' doors to the public : In order to revitalize the image of the notarial profession, which is sometimes presented as hermetic in the collective imagination, one of the major challenges of this project will be to make the Hôtel de la Chambre des Notaires de Paris an open and attractive building for a wider public, while preserving the solemnity of the institution.
Embodying the dynamism of a forward-looking profession The Hôtel de la Chambre des Notaires should be seen as an emblem of the digital transformation embraced by the profession. It has a duty to uphold the colors of an evolving company: it is at the crossroads of this favorable context to permanent innovation and these human relationships to be supported that the Chamber wishes to be a part of.
Highlighting an under-exploited historical heritage If the Chamber's ambition is to create a project that looks to the future of the profession, it must be established within the walls of an old building, an example of Haussmann-style architecture: the aim is to find a point of balance that will allow new ways of working to coexist harmoniously with the existing historic heritage.

Architectural competition

Breathing new life into a sleepy old house

After a long and meticulous programming phase, we launched the competition among architects. For this competition, we opted for a large-scale, worldwide distribution.

It was a huge success, with over 1,000 applications received and 150 entries from 20 different nationalities.

Selection was very tough, with only 5 teams admitted to the competition, including prestigious names such as Bernard Desmoulin, Atelier Novembre + Cut, Wy-To with Neri & hu… All these participants met for a one-day site visit.

In the end, the competition was won by Atelier Senzu from the Paris region, in collaboration with Lagneau Architectes.

The winning project

Atelier Senzu + Lagneau

The competition to renovate the Chambre des Notaires was won by the Atelier Senzu + Lagneau Architectes consortium. The project takes full advantage of the building's heritage, lightening the façade to restore its original design, while allowing for greater transparency.