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Air conditioners banned: how Old Nice is being cooled

A street in Nice

The historic centre of Nice — Vieux-Nice, part of the UNESCO World Heritage site “Nice, winter resort of the Riviera” — cannot simply hang an air conditioner on a façade: any intervention in the appearance of protected buildings requires a separate permit. Against the backdrop of summer heat, the city’s architects and the mayor’s office are looking for ways to reconcile residents’ comfort with preserving the district’s historic appearance.

🏛 Why an air conditioner on a façade is a violation

Since 2021, 522 hectares of Nice, including Vieux-Nice, have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Any change to a façade — from a new shutter to an external air-conditioning unit — is approved by the Department of Architecture and Heritage (UDAP) of the Alpes-Maritimes, headed by Ministry of Culture architect Luc Albouy, who is responsible for the Nice, Menton, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Grasse sector. The agency ensures that technical equipment does not spoil the appearance of buildings recognised as part of the shared heritage.

  • Restricted zone: the entire centre of Nice within the UNESCO site
  • What is prohibited: installing external units on visible façades without approval
  • What is possible: only concealed solutions approved by UDAP on a case-by-case basis

🔧 What is permitted instead of an external unit

Instead of the familiar outdoor unit, the permitted solutions hide the equipment inside the building. Ducted split systems are installed in a false ceiling or in the attic — from the street such an air conditioner is not visible at all. Compact monobloc split systems manage without an external unit entirely. Equipment is placed in internal courtyards or disguised as decorative elements — but each project is still considered individually, taking into account the condition of the specific building.

🌬️ Traditional passive cooling

The Old Town also has its own much older methods of coping with heat. Narrow streets shade each other, wrought-iron grilles above doorways and stairwells leading to inner courtyards create airflow — cool air from the street rises, forcing out the hot air from the roofs. Thick stone walls and louvered shutters keep rooms cool without a single watt of electricity.

🌳 City plan: trees instead of air conditioners

At the same time, the Nice metropolis is betting not on cooling individual flats but on cooling the city as a whole. The new “Climate Plan” for 2026–2032, approved by the metropolis council on 22 June 2026, foresees planting 280,000 trees — one per inhabitant — and creating 70 new hectares of “cool zones”. Since the start of the campaign the city has already planted 33 hectares of greenery and opened 16 new parks and squares, which lower air temperatures around the protected quarters without touching a single façade.

Residents of Vieux-Nice who want to install an air conditioner should start not at an appliance shop but by contacting UDAP — and primarily consider solutions hidden within the building. For how the city defends other details of its historic appearance, see the piece on the Fera canvas and the Opera’s floor lamps.

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Photo: Ayşenur Şahin / Pexels