Vurpas Architectes​

Vurpas Architectes is a French architecture firm specializing in heritage rehabilitation, based in Caluire-et-Cuire, near Lyon. The agency, established for 35 years in Vieux Lyon before moving in 2022 to a bioclimatic building in solid stone in Caluire-et-Cuire, brings together around thirty employees led by partner architects Philippe Beaujon and Julien Leclercq, as well as Damien Pontet, partner economist. The core business of Vurpas Architectes is built on a constant ambition: to design architecture to live in, by establishing a close dialogue with the client and staying close to the users and to those who build. The agency has developed long-standing expertise in making the project converse with its environment and its history, with a strong taste for the rehabilitation of heritage buildings and sites, including 20th-century works too often mishandled. Among its most notable projects and awards are the Eugénie Brazier school group and the EAJE in Lyon (Équerre d'Argent 2023, Trophée Séquence Bois 2024), the restoration of a greenhouse and an orangery on the Melchior Philibert estate in Charly (Rubans du Patrimoine 2024), the conversion of Fort Saint-Jean in Lyon, the relocation of the Musée des Vallées Cévenoles to the former Maison Rouge spinning mill in Saint-Jean-du-Gard (Rubans du Patrimoine 2018), as well as the conversion of the Strasbourg Tobacco Factory. The agency is a member of the UNSFA, Docomomo, the VAD association (Ville & Aménagement Durable) and the Low-Carbon Hub (IFPEB + Carbone 4), and pursues an active in-house continuing education policy on reuse, RE2020 and life cycle analysis.