Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The building and the swimming pool of the Admirals, located in the district of Clignancourt (18th arrondissement of Paris), were designed by architect Henri Sauvage between 1922 and 1927 for the Société des Habitations in Bon Marché. This project was part of the hygienist movement to provide safe housing for the working class. Sauvage re-used his bleacher system (already experienced on Vavin Street in 1912) to provide each apartment with a terrace, despite criticism of the reduction in housing. The facades, covered with white tiles provided by the Boulenger establishments of Choisy-le-Roi, evoke the "metro" style of the era.

Originally, Sauvage planned a cinema in the central courtyard, but the City of Paris imposed the construction of a swimming pool, inaugurated in 1930. The latter, surrounded by cabins on two levels, adopted a system of lockers without lockers: the users locked their cabin by slamming the door, and an employee reopened it after swimming. This rare device was also used at the Pontoise swimming pool. The swimming pool, renovated in 1982-1983 and between 2015 and 2017, today retains its original appearance, with a pool of 33 × 10 m covered with a lantern.

Ranked a historic monument in 1991 (façades, roofs and swimming pool), the building was restored between 2004 and 2005 to find its original ceramic carpentry and trimmings. The work also aimed to modernize the damp rooms of the apartments. The swimming pool, visible in The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain (2001), remains an emblematic municipal equipment. The ensemble illustrates the social and architectural innovation of the 1920s, combining public utility and aesthetic research.

Henri Sauvage, a major architect of the hygienist movement, had led the Société des Logements Hygieniques in Bon Marché since 1903 with Charles Sarazin. Their approach combined modern materials (armed concrete) and sanitary principles, as evidenced by cellars on the 4th and 5th floors to avoid moisture. The Amirals project, commissioned by the City, was the culmination of their research on economic but qualitative collective habitats.

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