Moussafir Architectes

Part of the Ministry of Social Affairs refurbishment program, the project involved transferring the Social Affairs Inspectorate (IGAS) into a 1930s building enclosed in a densely built-up block in central Paris. The IGAS staff includes 60 «sedentary» members and 80 «itinerant» inspectors who work in small ad hoc groups of two or three and have to travel a great deal, sometimes for long periods. The lack of space and natural light has led us to designing highly differentiated spaces adapted to the particular timeframes specific of the inspectors’ work style. We split traditional self-contained offices into a series of spaces corresponding to different types of work, combining offices allocated to one or two inspectors with non-allocated workspaces. «Alcove» offices measuring 10-12 sqm and fitted with built-in furniture offer a quiet work environment filled with natural light. Additionally, the project provides a series of individual «self-service» workstations for documentary research and word processing, as well as meeting areas for small groups, partially open into the circulation zones. Individual archive files are kept outside the offices, in a colorful, uninterrupted sequence of storage units lining elliptical circulation zones. The latter are treated as monochrome spaces, reflecting the natural light that filters in through the offices’ translucent glass partitions.