The project developed by CBA architectes preserves the existing spatial qualities despite changing their function. The original building has been transformed into a hotel with 85 rooms, expanding its surface area with an office centre that is embedded horizontally into the hillside, discreetly linking the new volume with the historic structure and neighbouring buildings.
A large central atrium floods the surrounding office spaces with natural light, while creating a dynamic circulation throughout the building through generous stairs and walkways. The garden functions as the heart of the project, presenting several terraces that skillfully combine mineral and vegetal elements.
Former École Normale d’Institutrices by CBA architectes. Photography by Julien Falsimagne.
Project description by CBA architectes
Architects often speak of designing "landscape buildings", while landscape designers pride themselves on creating "architectural landscapes". Rarely, however, do these two concepts merge as seamlessly as they do in the remarkable restructuring of Rouen’s former École Normale d’Institutrices (ENI).
Originally built by architect Lucien Lefort and inaugurated in 1887, the historic building has now been transformed into a 4 star hotel with 85 rooms and a business center offering 8,000 sqm of office space. More than that, CBA Architectes and Espace Libre - landscaper - have orchestrated a stunning metamorphosis, opening up the site with breathtaking views over Rouen while infusing the entire neighborhood - and indeed the city itself - with a refreshing and inspiring new energy.
While the building’s most emblematic elements have been carefully restored and highlighted, the overarching architectural and landscape design goes beyond preservation to embrace both memory and contemporary creation. By blending the past with the present, the dialogue between program and site, old and new forges a new identity, enriched with a contemporary genius loci. The facades, bell tower, clock, and carriage entrance have been meticulously restored, while the roof now features solar panels seamlessly integrated among the original slate tiles.
The architecture follows the natural topography of the terrain, with a play of elongated lines and folds that highlight the original school building. In this approach, the business center is subtly embedded horizontally into the slope, maintaining discretion in relation to the historic structure and neighboring constructions. Its vast central atrium floods the surrounding office spaces with natural light, while generous staircases and walkways create a dynamic circulation throughout.
Inside the hotel, the existing spatial qualities - notably the high ceilings in the rooms - have been preserved. The interiors draw inspiration from the aesthetic and functional rigor of the school’s former teachers, seamlessly blending history and modern comfort. The hotel’s extension, housing its shared spaces, is designed as a horizontal ribbon - like structure, appearing to be embedded like a blade into the existing building’s foundations. To preserve the integrity of the site, the 187-space parking facility has been placed underground.
This sensitive, compact, and discreet design has freed up space for a “Garden of Works” at the heart of the project, as well as the creation of a vast urban park below. This new green space features a series of terraced landscapes, skillfully combining mineral and vegetal elements.
Through architecture and landscape, this project is ultimately about regeneration - a word that perfectly captures the site's remarkable and unexpected rebirth. Once an emblematic landmark of the Rouen Metropolis, it has now become a belvedere, a meeting point for diverse audiences, and a true place of memory.
