Two wooden buildings will house 220 housing units in La Défense in 2027

Two wooden buildings will be built in La Défense (which extends over the communes of Puteaux, Courbevoie, Nanterre and La Garenne-Colombes, in Hauts-de-Seine). The two buildings, 45 and 39 meters high, connected by a base which will house shops and services, should see the light of day in 2027 on the edge of La Défense, in Courbevoie (92). They will house 220 “coliving” accommodations, a form of shared accommodation with services popular among real estate investors, which mainly targets young professionals or students who can afford it.

The towers will be built by Woodeum, a subsidiary of the developer Altarea and the GA Smart Building group, the first winners of a call for “mixed and low carbon” urban projects aimed at rehabilitating five sites on the edge of La Défense. The infrastructure and base of the two buildings will be made of “ultra low carbon concrete”, according to the establishment, with everything else being made of wood. Unlike concrete, the manufacture of which can emit a lot of greenhouse gases, wood helps to reduce the carbon footprint of construction and is as such encouraged by the ambitious French environmental regulations on new buildings (RE2020) .

The Paris La Défense establishment wants to transform the largest business district in Europe, by no longer confining it to offices alone. It intends to create more shops and services at the foot and at the top of the towers, develop housing or create spaces for its increasingly numerous student population.