The Prix Versailles is an international award dedicated to architecture and design. Announced each year at UNESCO since 2015, it recognises remarkable contemporary achievements across several categories, including hotels, restaurants, museums, airports, train stations and campuses.
International recognition for a new vision of Parisian hospitality
La Fondation joins the Prix Versailles Hotels 2026 global selection, recognizing the world’s most beautiful hotels. An accolade that celebrates more than a destination: a vision of contemporary hospitality, architecture brought to life, and a place deeply rooted in its neighborhood.
Every year, the Prix Versailles highlights remarkable contemporary architectural achievements around the world. Presented at UNESCO since 2015, it recognizes projects across several categories, including hotels, restaurants, museums, airports, campuses and sports facilities, rewarding innovation, creativity, respect for local heritage, environmental performance and conviviality.
For the 2026 edition, 16 hotels were selected worldwide, including 7 in Europe. La Fondation is among the distinguished properties, alongside hotels in Germany, Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic and France.
A Parisian hotel, and more
Located at 40 rue Legendre, in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, between Parc Monceau and the Batignolles neighborhood, La Fondation was conceived as a plural place. A five-star hotel, two restaurants, a rooftop, office spaces, an auditorium, a sports club, a semi-olympic pool and a spa coexist under one roof. This hybridity is central to its identity: La Fondation is not a hotel with additional amenities, but a true living space where hospitality flows naturally from one area to another.
The Prix Versailles particularly noted La Fondation’s ability to offer a new vision of Parisian hospitality: lively, complex, architectural and intimately connected to its surroundings. The project preserves the character of the existing structure while reinterpreting it through the constant presence of nature. Green walls, terraces, patios and suspended gardens soften the building’s minerality and create a unique dialogue between architecture and landscape.
When concrete meets nature
La Fondation stands out with a form of architecture rarely seen in Paris. Its concrete volumes, brutalist spirit, helical ramp and suspended garden create a singular silhouette, instantly recognizable. This dialogue between raw materials and living nature lies at the heart of the project: not as an opposition between city and landscape, but as a way of creating breathing spaces within the building itself.
This elegant tension between structure and softness, rigor and pleasure, movement and refuge give La Fondation its distinctive atmosphere. The Prix Versailles jury describes La Fondation as a “model of quiet luxury off the beaten path,” an arty cocoon anticipating the needs of a five-star hotel, and whose Parisian mystery will not remain a secret for long.
An award celebrating the spirit of the place
This recognition naturally resonates with La Fondation’s DNA: plurality, eclecticism, the joy of welcoming and a sense of timelessness. The house aims to be elegant yet lively, demanding yet relaxed, welcoming travelers and locals alike.
The Prix Versailles places particular emphasis on what it calls “intelligent sustainability”: an approach that considers the environmental, social and cultural impact of architecture. This vision finds a clear echo in La Fondation, whose project is rooted in the transformation of an existing building, the integration of nature and the creation of a place designed to endure.
At La Fondation, luxury is never shouted. It is felt, and reveals itself, through fluid circulation, attentive service, a quiet room, a lively table, a pool of natural light, a sports session, a dinner above the rooftops, or a conversation that lingers a little longer.
KEY FACTS: the essentials to remember
• La Fondation joins the Prix Versailles Hotels 2026 global selection, recognizing the world’s most beautiful hotels for their architecture, design and connection to place.
• For the 2026 edition, 16 hotels worldwide were selected, including 7 in Europe.
• Located at 40 rue Legendre in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, La Fondation was recognized for its vision of Parisian hospitality: lively, hybrid and deeply connected to its neighborhood.
• With its five-star hotel, restaurants, rooftop, sports club, spa, workspaces and cultural programming, La Fondation embodies a contemporary vision of hospitality designed around everyday life.
La Fondation was recognised for its singular vision of Parisian hospitality, its hybrid architecture, its roots in the Batignolles neighbourhood and its dialogue between raw materials, greenery, design and the art of living.
The Prix Versailles Hotels 2026 selected 16 hotels worldwide, including 7 in Europe.
La Fondation is located at 40 rue Legendre, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, between the Parc Monceau and the Batignolles village.
La Fondation brings together a 5-star hotel, two restaurants, a rooftop, a sports club, a semi-olympic swimming pool, a spa, office spaces, event spaces and a regular cultural programme.