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Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

Steps connecting the gradually rising floors of this Paris house by Moussafir Architectes can be glimpsed through the cut-out shutters on its glazed facade (+ slideshow).

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Located in Paris' 6th arrondissement, the house has been fitted into the three original stone walls of the site's previous building.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

The steel structure comprises cantilevered floors supported by a central core that's largely independent of the three outer walls.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

The south facade is entirely glazed and fitted with electrically operated steel shutters.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

With the exception of the bathroom, there are no partitions between the rooms.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Wooden stairs wrap around the core of the house and each level leading off from the stairs becomes its own room.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

The central core, staircase, floors and ceilings are all clad in black locust wood. Concrete boxes have been fitted into the walls to provide built-in shelving.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

We recently featured a house in Japan with a courtyard staircase that climbs over a roof – see it here.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

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Step House by Moussafir Architectes

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Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Photographs are by Hervé Abbadie.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Here's more information from the architects:


Wooden window frames within old masonry walls and steel window frames by Forster within new steel structure; lacquered steel electrically operated shutters, iroko roof terrace, steel roof planters.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Architects: Jacques Moussafir with Alexis Duquennoy, project manager, and Na An.
Consultants: Jean-Marc Weill and Malishev Wilson Engineers (structural engineers)

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Contractors: Microsol (deep foundations), Lisandre (structural work, plumbing, fittings), Général Métal (metal frame),

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

MGN (exterior door and windowframes), B2E (electricity), Tischlerei Bereuter (interior woodwork and panelling).

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Maison Escalier (Step House)

Built on the site of an old house set between two buildings in the heart of a very well-preserved block in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, this house is designed as a tree-like structure delimited on three sides by the original walls.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Only the entirely glazed south façade belies the almost total reconstruction of the building and provides a glimpse of the volumetric complexity of its interior spaces.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Even more than that of a tree, the most effective metaphor for the project might be that of a Cyclopean stairway: the house is a stair whose core houses the wet rooms, whose stairwell is defined by the gables of the neighbouring buildings, and whose steps and landings form the various living spaces.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

The fact that there was no need to partition the rooms (except the bathrooms) means that there is a sense of total spatial continuity from basement to roof terrace.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

The structure, entirely of steel, is made up of cantilevered floors borne by the central core and partly dissociated from the three outer walls onto which have been grafted concrete boxes that act as built-in furniture.

Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

The choice of materials reinforces the architectural design: the partitions of the central core, the floors and the ceilings are all clad in locust tree, whose colour and pattern contrast with the texture and whiteness of the outer walls.

Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

Step House (Maison Escalier) - Paris - 2008-2011
Completed December 2011

Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

Client: Eric de Rugy
Address: 22, rue Jacob, 75006 PARIS

Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

Brief: house reconstruction
Budget: 850 000€ excl. VAT

Maison Escalier by Moussafir Architectes

Surface area: 153 sq.m. + 15 sq.m. roof terrace.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes

Materials: pile foundations, concrete basement liner, steel superstructure, wooden floors with built-in low temperature heating; ceilings and panelling laid on plasterboard; panelling. Ceilings and floors on upper levels made of locust tree boards by Admonter; floors on lower levels of resinous concrete by Ardex; sheet steel and stainless steel mesh guardrails by Jakob.

Step House by Moussafir Architectes