area 103 | Paris

architect: Toyo Ito

location: Paris

year: 2006

This project concerns the rebuilding of “Cognacq-Jay”, a private hospital with a history of over 100 years. The site is located in the 15th district in Paris near the Eiffel Tower, within a residential quarter home to many hospitals. The old Cognacq-Jay facilities, like many of the hospitals in this district, stood independently among the surrounding residential blocks. The main building had a T-shaped plan, and a group of small buildings and nondescript patches of garden were scattered about the site. The international design competition to redesign the Cognacq-Jay was held in 1999 among a field of roughly 70 competitors. The program specified an increase in beds from 72 to 168, parking space for 168 cars, new rehabilitation facilities and a section for children suffering from various handicaps.

photo by Philippe Ruault

Upgrading the quality of the medical services was a key concern of the rebuilding, in particular improvements in the hospice section. To prevent the building volume from growing unwieldy in size and organization, the requirements for each of the rooms were strictly defined in advance. For the design, we aligned the surface lines of the exterior walls to run parallel with the streets on the north and south of the site and then placed the three hospital-ward buildings inside, maximizing the garden patios that emerge between the wards. The linear block along the street accommodates spacious gallery-type nursing rooms and private rooms arranged like apartment houses, respectively facing the street and garden, with corridors running in between.

photo by Philippe Ruault

By maximizing the wall surface facing the garden, most of these private rooms are provided with views and natural lighting. Privacy inside the block, including the garden, is assured by closing the building with regard to the streets. The majority of the service functions have been collected into the first basement level, which also provides an underground link between the north and south blocks. The form of the garden with respect to the blocks allows ample sunshine and ventilation to be brought down to this level, providing a comfortable environment for the staff.

client: Foundation Cognacq-Jay
site area: 4,976 mq
building area: 3,207 mq
total floor area: 17,968 mq
design team: Toyo Ito, Takeo Higashi, Akio Takatsuka
collaborating architects: Jun Yanagisawa (Contemporaries), Manuel Tardits (Mikan)
collaborating architects (Francia): Extra Muros
structural engineers: Sasaki Structural Consultants (Japan), Setec (France)
mechanical engineers: Kankyo Engineering Inc. (Japan), Setec (France)
façade design consultant: R.F.R (France),
landscape designer: Extra Muros (France)
façade: Bluntzer Sas/Rinaldi Structal
interior decorating: Rim & Alma Bat
steel works: Sam + Roumiguier
landscape: Viapark
project: 2000 - 2003
completion: 2006
photo: Philippe Ruault