{"id":283479,"date":"2025-09-10T11:52:38","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T02:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adfwebmagazine.jp\/?p=283479"},"modified":"2025-09-10T11:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T02:58:21","slug":"start-ivry-by-star-strategies-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adfwebmagazine.jp\/en\/architect\/start-ivry-by-star-strategies-architecture\/","title":{"rendered":"START-Ivry by STAR strategies + architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rethinking Housing for a Diverse Society<\/h3>\r\n

I<\/span>n Ivry-sur-Seine, a city with a radical architectural legacy on the edge of Paris, a bold new housing experiment is rewriting the rules of how homes are conceived, built, and lived in. Designed by STAR strategies + architecture<\/a>, the project called START-Ivry positions itself as both a manifesto and a demonstration: proof that more humane, flexible, and sustainable housing can be achieved within tight budgets and standard urban constraints.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

What is START?<\/h4>\r\n

START stands for Social, Transformable, Affordable, and Resilient Typologies. It is a design philosophy that rejects the mass-produced, standardised floor plans dominating much of contemporary housing. Instead, START begins with the resident, restoring the primacy of the floor plan and ensuring that spaces adapt to evolving life circumstances \u2014 from a growing family to co-living arrangements, from remote work to ageing in place. Its guiding principle: housing must adapt to people, not the other way around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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The 10 Adaptability Principles by STAR.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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The 8 Quality Principles by STAR.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The Ivry Pilot Project<\/h4>\r\n

The first pilot, START-Ivry, comprises five slender towers along the Seine and Marne rivers, with 288 units spanning social, intermediate, and market-rate housing. Despite modest surfaces, the scheme delivers a variety of \"bonus\" and \"plus\" typologies \u2014 units that can be divided, expanded, or reconfigured over time. Kitchens can migrate to make way for bedrooms, alcove spaces can double as offices, and large apartments can be split to generate rental income.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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START \u2013 Adaptability principle I: Large divisible dwelling (\u2265 3 bedrooms).
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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START \u2013 Adaptability principle II: Super-adaptable dwelling (two bedrooms).
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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Examples of floor plans of the START buildings.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The buildings\u2019 expressive fa\u00e7ades reflect the diversity within: windows, balconies, and loggias are positioned according to use, resulting in a lively \"disorder\" that mirrors domestic life. Shared spaces \u2014 from panoramic terraces to guest rooms \u2014 weave a collective layer into the vertical community. At ground level, START integrates shops, services, and public plazas, binding the project to its urban surroundings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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START \u2013 Diagrams: Common Spaces, Common Terraces, Programme, Organisation of the Towers.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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START \u2013 Location plan and site plan, 7th floor.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>

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START \u2013 Render-collages.
\r\nPhoto credit: STAR strategies + architecture<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

A New Philosophy and Process<\/h4>\r\n

START is as much about process as product. It emerged through the \"Inverse Method\": the architect was chosen first, with developers later competing to realise the vision. This reversed the conventional hierarchy, ensuring the design\u2019s integrity and placing housing quality above developer interests.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Kamel Khalfi<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Nicolas Trouillard<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

The project is equally pioneering in its definition of sustainability. While it reduces energy consumption and uses low-carbon concrete, its deeper contribution is social: housing that adapts to life\u2019s transitions is, by definition, more sustainable than rigid units destined for obsolescence.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Kamel Khalfi<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Nicolas Grosmond<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Legacy and Recognition<\/h4>\r\n

Ivry-sur-Seine has long been a laboratory of housing innovation, with icons like Jean Renaudie and Ren\u00e9e Gailhoustet shaping its skyline. START continues this lineage while updating it for today\u2019s plural society. Already, the project has earned acclaim, including the 2024 French National Women Architects Prize and two 2025 AZ Awards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Photo credit: Vladimir Partalo<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Vladimir Partalo<\/p><\/div>

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Photo credit: Vladimir Partalo<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Towards a New Culture of Housing<\/h4>\r\n

Ultimately, START-Ivry by STAR strategies + architecture offers more than new towers: it proposes a cultural shift in how we think about domestic space. By rooting architecture in the lived realities of its inhabitants, it suggests that the future of housing lies not in uniformity, but in adaptability and resilience.<\/p>\r\n\n\t\t