Château d'eau Saint-Charles, Water tower turned residential building in Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France

The Saint-Charles water tower is a red-brick cylinder 17 m across and 35 m tall, built in 1908 to plans by Eugène Griffon. Vertical white stone strips divide the facade into bays with paired arched windows; a wider upper section on brackets carries a white-railed balcony and a crenellated white parapet topped by an antenna. Since 1990 it holds 18 homes on 8 levels, 12 of them duplexes.

Built in 1908 to plans by Eugène Griffon, the tower required a 45-metre crane during construction. In 1990 it was fully rehabilitated and converted into 18 social housing units for the SA HLM of Vandœuvre, with architects Jean-Luc André and Claude Prouvé leading a project described as an architectural feat. Few comparable conversions exist in France, and architecture students regularly ask to visit.

Since 1990 the tower has housed 18 social housing units for the SA HLM of Vandœuvre, 12 of them duplexes across 8 levels. Its conversion by architects Jean-Luc André and Claude Prouvé is treated as an architectural feat, and architecture students regularly ask to visit the building.

The building is easy to spot from various points around town due to its distinctive round shape. Access to the interior is limited to residents and special occasions, but the exterior can be viewed and photographed at any time.

The apartments have no right-angled rooms because they must adapt to the tower's round shape. This unusual layout makes each unit distinctive, with slanted walls and rounded corners throughout.