At 56 rue des Saints-Pères, a short walk from boulevard Saint-Germain, the Hôtel de la Meilleraye brings together two 17th-century hôtels particuliers, the Grand Hôtel and the Petit Hôtel. They were joined in the 18th century and became a place of teaching after Sciences Po acquired them in 1946.

20th-century alterations added staircases, half-levels and extensions. An inner courtyard disappeared beneath a heavy, opaque roof, corridors closed in behind blind walls, and the garden linking the building to the headquarters on rue Saint-Guillaume can now only be crossed by a flight of steps.

From the garden to the glass roof, a single continuous and accessible route reconnects what successive alterations had divided, and restores light and generous ceiling heights to the whole.

Winner of the competitive dialogue launched by EPAURIF and Sciences Po, the team led by Eiffage Construction proposes to rethink the site starting from the garden.

Terraces and gentle ramps, held by low walls, follow the existing slope and provide a continuous accessible route without the need for a lift. The low walls double as benches, the terraces offer generous seating on the grass, and the large trees are retained. The garden becomes the entrance to the building, through the central front steps of the Hôtel de la Meilleraye.

Inside, a glass roof covers the courtyard of the Petit Hôtel. It reveals façades that had been concealed and opens the view to the sky. Beneath it sits the campus’s main study space, dedicated to silence and concentration. Where a narrow, windowless corridor once ran, a bright through-space widens in places into informal work areas. The restoration remains discreet: mouldings repaired, parquet floors restored, false ceilings removed to return the rooms to their original heights.

The project covers 3,360 m² of built space and 1,700 m² of garden. It includes rebuilding floors to restore continuous circulation, reworking vertical circulation, restoring heritage joinery and repairing the dressed-stone façades. It targets Bâtiment Durable Francilien certification (BDF Bronze, Ekopolis), with alternative rainwater management, light-coloured surfaces and new shade planting in the garden.

Location
Paris 7th

Project type
Renovation

Program
Education

Project owner
EPAURIF / Sciences Po

Team
Eiffage Construction, Chatillon Architectes, Louis Benech, OTEIS Conseil & Ingénierie, TEC.CO, Etamine, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes

Budget
11.5 M€ HT

Timeline
2025 – 2029