Phase
Preliminary Design Proposal
Location
Toulouse, France
Hotel Albert 1er
Heritage-sensitive vertical extension strategy for a family-run hotel
Project Year
2024
What This Project Shows
This project demonstrates the ability to transform a client’s spatial need into an architectural argument within a sensitive heritage context. It shows how urban constraints, regulatory expectations and project identity can be brought together into a clear proposal that could be discussed with the ABF.
Context & Challenge
The client wished to add an additional floor to support the growth of the hotel. The project is located in an ABF-sensitive urban context, with an existing façade recognized for its Haussmannian character and a surrounding height condition shaped by adjacent buildings of different scales.
Project Type
Hotel · Vertical Extension
My Role
Author and designer of the architectural proposal
I developed the entire preliminary proposal, including the analysis of the heritage context, the vertical extension strategy, the architectural concept, the façade composition, the plan organization, and the architectural rationale prepared for discussions with the ABF.
Design Strategy
The proposal uses the difference in adjacent building heights as a margin of interpretation for a controlled vertical extension. Rather than simply imitating the existing building or creating a rupture, the design develops a contemporary interpretation of Haussmannian roof language, façade rhythm and material presence, while integrating the ideas of family continuity and hotel identity.
South-east Isometric View
The hotel is located in the city center of Toulouse, surrounded by numerous historic monuments. It sits on a narrow, one-way street within a district protected by the Architectes des Bâtiments de France (ABF). Buildings in this area are characterized by traditional Haussmann-style architecture.
Page 1
Context
Perspective
Rival Street
Page 2
Design Approach
Existing Façade
Rue Rivals
Design Approach
The project proposes the vertical extension of a family-run hotel in Toulouse. Operated today by the third generation of the same family, the hotel needed an additional floor to support its continued growth while preserving the identity of the existing building.
Located in an ABF-protected urban context and surrounded by Haussmann-style architecture, the proposal required a careful balance between continuity and transformation. The design reinterprets the existing façade language in a contemporary way, using modern materials and a refined architectural expression to create a new upper layer.
This extension is conceived not only as an added floor, but as a generational contribution to the building: a way to express the evolution of the family business while respecting its historical context, inherited character and long-term legacy.
The contours of the existing façade are retraced and simplified. Existing ornaments are transformed into light fixtures, allowing for a fresh reinterpretation of the façade.
The new contour shapes are applied.
Page 3
Plans
Existing Façade
Rue Rivals
Projected Façade
Rue Rivals
Plan
R+4
Plan
R+5
End of the presentation
Thank you for interest.