Inhabited Thermal Delights investigates how thermal design can become a catalyst for the transformation of existing buildings. The research is grounded in the renovation of 176 social housing units in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, for Paris Habitat, the city’s largest social housing provider. The project investigates how thermal design can become a driver of architectural transformation. Putting residents’ comfort, material innovation, and the architectural quality of existing buildings at the centre of the renovation process.
"The proposed testing and evaluation of bio-based hemp-lime insulation at the scale of a large housing project has the potential to strengthen the acceptance and future marketability of hemp as a highly sustainable yet still rarely applied material in architecture and construction."
Insulation details, Wintergarden, drawing courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Existing buildings now constitute one of the primary fields of action for architecture. Rather than being understood as constraints to be corrected, they can be approached as resources to be interpreted, revealing their capacity to accommodate new forms of occupation and use. Thermal performance, too, has emerged as a major driver of contemporary architectural design, shaping not only energy consumption and comfort, but also spatial relationships, material choices, and architectural form.
Inhabited Thermal Delights has a particular focus on the use of bio-based insulation systems, including hempcrete materials, and their application within an occupied housing context, where residents remain in place throughout construction. The project combines architectural reflection with technical investigation, testing, and performance analysis; exploring how environmental requirements can generate new spatial qualities, and open up aesthetic possibilities that remain largely unexplored in thermal renovation.
Insulation details, courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Insulation comparison, courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Floor plan survey and diagnosis, courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Floor plans of the existing building, courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Analysis of solar access across different façade scenarios and sun angles, drawing by Barrault Pressacco
Bioclimatic Chart, drawing by Victor Olgyay
By positioning thermal design as an architectural project, rather than solely a technical exercise, Inhabited Thermal Delights aims to develop practical methodologies for the implementation of natural materials in large-scale housing renovation. Through a practice-based approach, the research contributes to expanding the use of bio-based materials, while advancing new ways of transforming and reimagining the existing built environment.
Building before renovation, photo courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
Building before renovation, rendering courtesy of Barrault Pressacco
