Located close to Paris, the city of Malakoff possesses a typical suburban fabric. Separated by the south beltway of the capital, this city, historically proletarian slowly evolved to a high-end neighbourhood for privileged white collars, willing to escape from the capital ambient stress. This close location allows them to stay in close contact with the city centre especially since it is well served by many metropolitan trains.

The site gets its character through several remarkable points. The subway station Etienne-Dolet, borders the West side of the building, creating a green frontage stretching through the whole depth of the site, Its built front, that develops on 180 metres, is covered with a low-grade cladding that projects a poor image for the current site. The construction is set in a large parcel of land with various neighbouring landowners that generate divers building alignments. One of the sides of the building borders a large greenway that stretches around the city.