In the autumn of 2020, Stéphanie Bru and Alexandre Thériot (Bruther) completed the Rosalind Franklin student accommodation on the Université Paris-Saclay technology campus. The Franco-Swiss architectural firm collaborated on this project with Adrien Verschuere (Baukunst) from Brussels. Their building is one of the most compelling examples of an optimal balance between ‘less’ and ‘more’ on this campus.

The Université Paris-Saclay specialises in science and technology. The campus is a French mini-version of Silicon Valley, in the south-west of Paris. Or at least it is meant to be, but the campus has been one huge construction site for ten years. Just like the new towns of the 1970s and 1980s, the campus on the Saclay plateau is a strategic development zone, highly dense and built at breakneck speed. Its architecture is therefore often of its time. The main buildings were designed by established names such as OMA and Gigon/Guyer, Renzo Piano, Bernard Tschumi and Grafton Architects. Other projects were carried out by emerging firms known primarily for post-crisis trends – the magazine Arch recently described them as ‘neo-realist’. For instance, the Lieu de Vie building, with its multifunctional facilities for students, was designed by Studio Muoto, whilst the other student accommodation was designed by Tank, Data, Lan/Clément Vergely, 51N4E/Bourbouze & Graindorge and AUC.