Malakoff: the architects want the rehabilitation of the Insee tower, not its destruction

For some former Malakoff, like the former elected Dominique Cordesse who saw the Insee tower drawn on a plan, its demolition scheduled from October 2022 is a "true heartbreak".

But beyond the sentimental aspect, voices are being raised to denounce an environmental mess.

Because by 2027, a new building will be built there in place and place to accommodate 1,800 agents from the Ministries of Labor and Health.

A petition was launched by a collective of citizens gathered under the name "IMEUBLE INSEE PAS FINI", six days ago on Change.org, to denounce this project.

While it now reaches more than 2,400 signatories, the Regional Council of the Order of Architects of Île-de-France announced on Thursday that it associated itself “unanimously and fully” with this approach.

During its official meeting on May 17, the Council of the Order spoke out in favor of the rehabilitation of the Insee tower, the work of renowned architects Serge Lana and Denis Honegger, built in 1974.

“Absolute primacy of rehabilitation”

"By this wish, and despite the state of progress of the file, with regard to social and environmental issues, political commitments of our country and at the highest level of the State, the Council of the Order intends to raise awareness the owners and the State to the absolute primacy of rehabilitation over new construction, when possible and viable, ”they write in a press release.

The Council calls for the arbitration of the new Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, previously in charge of the file, so that a new decision emerges "as the first strong political act of the roadmap of the future government".

Document resulting from the scenario which indicates the main orientations of the State for the construction project of the new building.

In orange: the location of the school, in white blocks: the work possibilities of the architects on the future building.

In place of this tripod of nearly 30,000 m2, a new office building will be built of the same height (50 m) but with a slightly larger volume.

"A pure loss" for the collective which declares in the petition: "About 50,000 tons of concrete, thousands of tons of steel will have to be put on the ground, transported, crushed by nearly a thousand trucks to rebuild in the same place a building also in concrete structure, of a similar surface and an identical use.

We know it today: demolishing massively produces CO2, the main greenhouse gas, and building produces even more.

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During a public consultation meeting on November 15, the project director, Philippe Benoist, defended himself on this point: "The question of rehabilitation had arisen, but the building is heavily contaminated with asbestos, which did not allow to relocate the school or to carry out the green corridor, we could only have kept the skeleton of the building anyway, so there would have been a lot of deconstruction as well.