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Apur, The Parisian urban planning workshop on the scale of Paris and Greater Paris documents, deciphers, supports, illuminates, projects, explores and shares diversity.

Summertime Comfort in homes in the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis

Case studies

In order to analyse the comfort during the summer in housing in Grand Paris, the Paris Urbanism Agency, Apur, conducted an initial series of interviews with a dozen or so households in the metropolis. This preparatory work for a larger survey planned in 2025, is part of the H3Sensing* research project coordinated by Inserm that aims to measure the impact of heat waves on the health of Grand Paris inhabitants.
Icône de la catégorie Summertime comfort in housing in the Greater Paris - Grand Paris Metropolis - Illustrated by 10 case studies
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Awning protecting an apartment from the sun in a 1960s building © Apur - Julien Bigorgne

The first elements that emerge from the cross-referenced analysis of housing typologies of dwellings and the experiences of residents confirm the value of juxtaposing the architectural and urban characteristics with the habits and uses of those who live there. While some people are able to benefit from the initial design of buildings to be as cool as possible, using to the best advantage the flexibility and adaptabiltiy of the premises, others are obliged to suffer from the design of their homes which are mono-orientated or have no solar protection on glass surfaces and are therefore poorly adapted to the current and future climatic conditions.

The analysis of some cooling strategies put in place by residents confirm the advantages of certain measures of adaptability in future buildings: the use of "cooling" interior surfaces, installing circulating fans, cooling by greening etc.  On the other hand, the inefficiency of measures and the problems encountered by some people confirm the difficulties of adapting certain housing in the future, either because of their design or their position, particularly those immediately under roofs where it is particularly uncomfortable during heat-waves.

The first ten situations selected to test elements in the questionnaire put in place by Apur, which is in charge of the housing section of the H3Sensing study, illustrate the diversity of contexts (houses, apartments on standard floors, apartments built just under the roof) and lifestyles in Grand Paris Metropolis. They illustrate the value of the wider scale survey to be carried out in 2025.

*H3Sensing research programme supported and funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), brings together a number of research institutes including Inserm's IPL-SEP, Paris Gustave Eiffel University's ESIEE, the Lied of the Paris Cité University and Apur.

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