![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Exterior Photography, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e630/3312/fd7c/7e00/0414/medium_jpg/Cyrille_Weiner_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_6639_6640_horiz.jpg?1572463939)
-
Architects: LAN Architecture
- Area: 4350 m²
- Year: 2019
-
Photographs:Cyrille Weiner, Charly Broyez
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Exterior Photography, Brick, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e780/3312/fd7c/7e00/0418/newsletter/Cyrille_Weiner_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_0574_4.jpg?1572464464)
Text description provided by the architects. The Nanterre site is located in a very diverse urban area, surrounded by single-family homes, the large majority from the 60s, and certain industrial buildings. The project aims to reconstruct a form of urbanity and to relate the architecture to the city through several forms: a facade instead of a wall, a more fluid transition between the interior and exterior, distribution of volume that links the various scales.
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Image 3 of 21](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e4ce/3312/fd14/3300/0ae8/newsletter/feature_-_Cyrille_Weiner_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_0194_197.jpg?1572463798)
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Image 5 of 21](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e99a/3312/fd14/3300/0af6/newsletter/10_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_Charly_Broyez.jpg?1572465018)
The Nanterre project is unique in that it combines two programmes, each of which houses different target populations. The headquarters of the Penitentiary Services for Integration and Probation of Hauts-de Seine [Services Pénitentiaires d’Insertion et de Probation des Hauts-de-Seine (SPIP)] monitors people under arrest, while the “Minimum Security Area” allows convicted offenders to enrol in a unique detention programme that allows them to leave the penitentiary to participate in a reintegration project, hopefully decreasing repeat offences. Housing these different programmes together is unprecedented.
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Image 21 of 21](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/ea28/3312/fd14/3300/0af9/newsletter/QSL-LAN-COM-MASSE-A4.jpg?1572465178)
Built in an L-shape, the volume composition of each building complements the another. The SPIP programme is at the front of the building, while the semi-open detention area is within the centre block. From the outside, the building looks like a compact cuboid on the corner shared by the two streets. The only irregularity in the composition of the volume is at the entry to the Minimum-Security Area on the south facade, which creates a large opening in the monolith structure. A wide overhang runs above an outdoor space, forming a more fluid, yet secure kind of transition area.
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Exterior Photography, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e814/3312/fd14/3300/0af1/newsletter/Cyrille_Weiner_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_0572_8.jpg?1572464600)
The SPIP offices, which sit on the corner of boulevard du Général Leclerc and rue des Acacias, are located on the street side. The first-floor maintenance and collective action rooms are accessible through the entry area, as are the administrative and management areas, located on the second and third floors.
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e9e3/3312/fd14/3300/0af7/medium_jpg/05_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_Charly_Broyez.jpg?1572465092)
The structure of the various sections of the Minimum-Security Area is controlled by a protected entry post (PEP). Strategically placed, it has a direct view of the entry courtyard, where access to the logistical, administrative, and detention areas is managed. The Minimum-Security Area has 89 cells, housing 92 prisoners. The cells are accessed from broad walkways and overlook either the walkway-side courtyard or the planted gardens, without any buildings opposite. The ground floor common rooms (canteen, weight room, multimedia library, and laundry area) open onto the courtyard.
![Minimum Security Prison of Nanterre / LAN Architecture - Exterior Photography, Windows, Brick, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5db9/e6c4/3312/fd14/3300/0aeb/newsletter/Cyrille_Weiner_LAN_CSL_Nanterre_0576_1.jpg?1572464277)