Reconstruction of the Pajol Market

The project to renovate the former Pajol market by architect Françoise-Hélène Jourda involves a new use: a youth hostel, a city library, shops, services, restaurants, and a public park. The 19th-century steel structure located near the Paris Gare de l’Est terminal is part of the historical industrial heritage that needed to be preserved while finding a new function for it. The hall has been freed from excess load and all later additions, allowing the structure to shine in all its beauty. The slender steel profiles regain the character of a light shelter. New wooden volumes with public functions have been integrated into the historical building. Unlike the intricate steel beams, the new wooden blocks remain as simple as possible. The facades are not only clad in solid wood, but the interior walls, floors, and ceilings are also made of it. The newly inserted elements have their own foundations and roof, so they do not burden the original hall. The insulation of the outer walls, with a total thickness of 47 cm, ensures that heating the rooms will not be frequently needed in winter and provides sufficient comfort against overheating in summer.
In half of the market, the exposed steel structure remains, and in the shade of the roof covered with solar panels, a public park named after Rosa Luxemburg was created according to the design of Emmanuel Jalbert from the In Situ studio, with part of the urban park extending into the former railway yard and continuing along the tracks further north.