In the heart of Strasbourg, the city center is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the municipality was awarded the City of Art and History label in 2013. “Rehabilitate the building is in the DNA of the administration and elected officials, notes Frédéric Thommen, director of architecture and heritage of Strasbourg and the Eurometropolis. In the same way as doing with the existing and rebuilding the cited on itself. » From the 2000s, as part of the reclamation of former port wastelands, one of the warehouses was transformed to house the André-Malraux media library, while respecting the memory and appearance of this industrial building built in the 1930s. This was in 2008 and, at the time, there were other examples.
Since 2020, the new ecological municipality has accelerated this approach. “We want to promote our heritage and optimize land”, assures Suzanne Brolly, deputy responsible for the resilient city and monitoring of the local urban plan. An inventory of the heritage of the city and the Eurometropolis has been carried out. “The objective, she explains, is to ensure that there are no more buildings that serve no purpose, and to identify those that can change their function. »
The restored Post Office, which has become a place to live and work
Emblematic of the city, in neo-Gothic style, the Hôtel des Postes, in the heart of the Neustadt district, opened a new chapter in its existence at the end of 2022, after a renovation of its 20,000 square meters, launched four years earlier by Bouygues Real estate. The challenge was to preserve, rehabilitate and enhance the architectural heritage, while integrating it into the city, with a touch of modernity. The place today combines housing, offices, a brewery, a residence for elderly people who are still independent, and the historic post office, which retains its location. “It is diversity that has won, while respecting existing heritage”welcomes Arnaud Berger, director of operations at the promoter’s Grand Est department.
According to the recommendations of the architect of Bâtiments de France (ABF), a diagnosis of the heritage elements was carried out with a view to their integration into the project, and interventions on the existing buildings were limited. Everything was isolated from the inside. In the common areas, the angular stairwells, the vaulted corridors, the cast iron posts and the frescoes have been preserved and renovated. In the 60 housing units available for purchase, the galleries with vaults, the doors and their masterful frames as well as the terrazzo floors have been restored. The roofs dating from 1896 have also been preserved. The neo-Gothic facades overlooking the street have been cleaned and renovated, “to find the original color”underlines Arnaud Berger.
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