An apartment complex of connected and intelligent homes is currently being built in the French capital's 14th arrondissement.

These connected apartments are currently under construction close to Denfert-Rochereau metro station. Encased in a classic façade, this modern building with an interior garden should be liveable by the middle of 2018. 

Top-of-the-range services…and a price tag to match 

The promoter at the helm of this project, SOFERIM, explains in its brochure that the main assets of these new apartments are their top-of-the-range, "intelligent" services.

The price of these connected apartments is significantly higher than for other homes in the neighbourhood: a studio measuring between 26 and 36m2 will set you back more than €370,000, a one-bedroom apartment (39 to 57m2) will cost you more than €490,000, a two-bedroom place (62 to 76m2) is priced at more than €830,000, and finally a three-bedroom apartment (79 to 90m2) will set you back more than €890,000, which is equivalent to between €11,266 and €14,230 per square metre, depending on the surface area, compared with an average of €10,000 per square metre elsewhere in the neighbourhood, as reported by Le Figaro french newspaper. 

Homes that can be managed remotely 

Thanks to the Smart Home system, designed by Frenchman Legrand, a specialist in electronic and digital infrastructures, the apartments in this new block will be connected to a system that enables their owner to easily manage all of their electrical functions using a smartphone or tablet. 

The equipment that the future inhabitants will be able to control using a special app include lighting, electric blinds, heating… a host of ways to optimise your household energy consumption! Furthermore, by analysing data about the inhabitants of these new properties – collected through WiFi – Smart Home will be able to anticipate when they will leave and return home and alter the lighting and temperature accordingly. 

The future looks bright for Smart Home, as there are set to be around 28 billion intelligent objects in use between now and 2020, according to consultancy firm IDC: the system might, for example, be programmed to remotely open doors or set a washing machine in motion. 

A dedicated social network

The inhabitants of the building will have their own special social network, a platform inspired by Facebook, through which they can chat to each other, be sent alerts about maintenance, receive information from the co-ownership association and even be alerted if the lifts are out of order. 

This connected communication has already been hailed a success by inhabitants of the Nuages building in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, made up of former offices that have been converted into housing: a similar platform enables them to organise parties with their neighbours or private events, and reserve the building's shared spaces for functions.

Allianz Partners