Temporary Urban Roofs—mobile, modular buildings
This architectural project creates temporary buildings that can serve as housing or as spaces for businesses and non-profits. Clad in light-coloured wood, they offer a sharp contrast with the metal container-style units of the past.
A new take on temporary spaces
Backed by SNCF Immobilier, our subsidiary ICF Habitat, French development bank Banque des Territoires and the Seine-Saint-Denis departmental council, Temporary Urban Roofs is designed to give communities, lenders and owners the temporary spaces they need. And by creating buildings that are both energy-efficient and attractive, we and our partners also plan to add appeal to unused properties.
Versatile prototype
The temporary buildings needed to be:
- eco-friendly
- easy for third parties to relocate
- reconfigurable for different installation sites
- architecturally ambitious
- comfortable for users
- affordable
Shelter for single mothers
The buildings were designed by a team consisting of Selvea, a modular construction company; architecture firms Virtuel and Alt; consulting firms Ethic, GERA'nium and Atelier Rouch; and tilemaker Edil. Once the first prototype was approved, we and our partners created a company to take Temporary Urban Roofs from drawing board to reality. This new company will handle preliminary operations, such as building a shelter for single mothers and their children in the Clos Saint Lazare district in Stains, a suburb north of Paris.
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