European Collective Housing Award: Two Paris Projects Win

Two projects from Paris won the 2026 European Collective Housing Award, with the results announced in San Sebastián on 8 October. La Métropolitaine, by Ignacio Prego Architectures and Thibaud Babled Architectures, won the new-build category, while Atelier Téqui Architectes’ conversion of a former garage into housing took the renovation award. The shortlist drew 192 entries from 36 European countries.

Mixed-use housing above infrastructure

Built above existing transport infrastructure on the boundary between Paris and a neighbouring municipality, La Métropolitaine forms a continuous façade facing the new Palais de Justice. The project combines social housing, affordable student accommodation and spaces for public and community use.

The building’s limited depth shapes the apartment layouts. All homes, ranging from one to five bedrooms, extend from one side of the building to the other, connecting the city on one side with a garden on the other. The jury highlighted the project’s approach to combining different uses above existing infrastructure, as well as the public client’s commitment to keeping rents affordable in this location.

From garage to 63 apartments

The renovation-category winner transforms and extends a garage built in 1957 in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Designed by Grand Prix de Rome laureate Claude Béraud, the building now contains 63 apartments and a retail space.

Significant parts of the existing structure were retained: the floor slabs, columns, beams and projecting concrete elements of the façade were kept, while the vehicle ramps were removed. The project adds landscaped courtyards, winter gardens and a rooftop vegetable garden. The floors added above the retained structure use a steel frame, cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs and larch cladding. According to the award documentation, the added section contains up to 99 kilograms of biobased material per square metre.

The jury praised the plans for accommodating different types of housing within the constraints of the existing structure, as well as the project’s spatial quality. The scheme brings together a range of apartments, the reuse of the building and the addition of outdoor spaces.

The award’s scope and what it means for architecture teams

Established in 2024, the award is organised by the Basque Architecture Institute in San Sebastián and arc en rêve centre d’architecture in Bordeaux, with support from the Basque Government. It assesses completed projects for architectural quality, social impact and their contribution to Europe’s housing needs. This edition saw the number of participating countries rise from 19 to 36, and entries increase from 170 to 192.

The two projects offer different approaches to housing that go beyond building on a new site: La Métropolitaine creates a new structure above transport infrastructure, while the garage project opts for reuse, retaining some of the existing structural and façade elements. For architects, interior designers and visualization teams, these examples show how different housing types can be presented alongside relationships with outdoor spaces such as gardens, courtyards and winter gardens. However, the source provides no cost, construction schedule or technical performance data, so comparisons on these points are not possible.

The awards ceremony was held at the Basque Architecture Institute’s new space at Tabakalera, with the nine finalist teams in attendance. The finalist projects are set to feature in a publication and a touring exhibition scheduled to visit European museums over the next two years.