Rue des Amiraux (Piscine des Amiraux)

The Immeuble des Amiraux is a social-housing block designed by Henri Sauvage (with Charles Sarazin) as part of Paris’s drive for “hygiénic” modern housing—healthy light, air, and outdoor space for working-class residents. The project was built between 1922 and 1927, following designs developed from 1916, and it occupies a full urban block between Rue des Amiraux and Rue Hermann-Lachapelle.

Its most distinctive architectural idea is the “immeuble à gradins” (stepped building): the façades rise in terraces, so many apartments gain private outdoor space, better sunlight, and improved ventilation—a radical alternative to dark courtyard housing. Structurally it relies on modern construction (notably reinforced concrete) and a rational, repetitive layout typical of early 20th-century mass housing experiments.

At the center of the block sits the Piscine des Amiraux, a public pool inserted into the interior courtyard and completed in 1930. It’s a landmark of Art Deco civic architecture, often described with a “paquebot” (ocean-liner) feel: curved lines, stacked galleries, and two levels of changing cabins wrapping around the pool like ship decks. The interior is famous for its bright, clean atmosphere—white tiling, strong geometric order, and a dramatic concrete vaulted roof—making it one of the most memorable public interiors of interwar Paris.

The pool and building have been protected as heritage architecture and restored multiple times (notably in the 1980s and again in the 2010s) to keep the original Art Deco character while meeting modern safety and comfort standards.