Transformation of the Grand Parc buildings, Bordeaux
The transformation of 530 occupied social housing flats in three early-1960s blocks at the Cité du Grand Parc, Bordeaux, by adding winter gardens and balconies instead of demolishing them.
Case studySources & confidence: High confidence
Checked 8 October 2026 · AI-assisted review
Scope, dates, client, cost, occupation during works and rents.
- Lacaton & Vassal: Grand Parc project sheet
Client Aquitanis; delivered 2016; 530 homes rehabilitated plus 8 new on an occupied site; 27.2 million euros excluding VAT for the rehabilitation.
- Architect: Transformation of 530 dwellings, Grand Parc Bordeaux
Prefabricated modules; all families stayed; no rent increase; about 50,000 euros per flat.
- Lacaton & Vassal: The Architectural Review PDF
Dates the works 2011 to 2016 and describes rents indexed to build cost.
What this check doesn’t establish
- All three sources come from or reproduce the architects' account. No independent evaluation of residents' outcomes was read.
- Completion is given as 2016 by the project sheet and AR, and as 2017 by Architect.
Confidence applies to the scope above, not every claim made by the underlying source. How confidence works
Examined in the essay as an example of improving post-war housing without displacing its residents. The essay returns to it in the discussion of green gentrification.
The project won the 2019 EU Mies van der Rohe Award, according to the Architect page. The architects received the 2021 Pritzker Prize. The essay's drawing shows a typical floor of buildings H and I.
In the essays
- Somewhere Worth Living
Read the essay
Sources
People
- Anne Lacaton
Influenced by
- Christophe Hutin
Influenced by
- Frédéric Druot
Influenced by
- Jean-Philippe Vassal
Influenced by
Organisations
- Lacaton & Vassal
Influenced by
Images
Record history
Catalogue source: knowledge/cases/fr-grand-parc-transformation.md
Generated by claude-code/claude-opus-5-5 on 2026-10-08