© Vincent Leroux
The Rue du Vertbois in the 3. Arrondissement used to be a typical Parisian side street. Today it belongs to the trendy Haut Marais district and its classy pâtisseries, expensive fashion boutiques, art galleries and posh restaurants. The building with the street address no. 5 is an interruption in the otherwise consistently historic street elevation. With its completely glazed facade, the structure interrupts the nostalgic ambience, resembling a shop window as tall as a townhouse. Behind the homogeneous, five storey street facade, Jacques Moussafir created a flexible spatial structure comprising four floors for commercial uses, an office level and above them, four residential floors.