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Architects: LAN
- Area: 31473 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Maxime Delvaux, Charly Broyez
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Lead Architect: LAN
Text description provided by the architects. By 2030, the city of Bordeaux aims for European influence with Euratlantique. With the arrival of the high-speed rail link (LGV) in 2017, this Operation of National Interest (OIN) focuses on the construction of a business center around the Saint-Jean station. Thus, the urban renewal initiated nearly twenty years ago continues between the Sacré-Cœur district and the railway tracks. It includes the development of the former industrial site of the ZAC Amédée-Saint-Germain, one of the five areas of the Saint-Jean Belcier project. The Sacré-Cœur district was spontaneously built in a very homogeneous urban form composed of large residential blocks, occasionally interrupted by 20th-century buildings. The fabric consists of Bordeaux “échoppes”, small single-story townhouses spread over long and narrow plots, a kind of pastiche of classical palaces. The neighborhood has a very small number of facilities and thus lacks attractiveness on a metropolitan scale. The ZAC plot is located to the south, on the edge of the so-called “stone city”, in a topographical enclave: it is separated from street level by 4.20 meters due to railway activities. Situated between Rue de Bègles and Rue Furtado, it borders Rue Amédée-Saint-Germain and the network of tracks. It is full of some remarkable remnants of industrial activity, structures such as the forge workshop, the tanks, and the Amédée workshop, characterized by arches along their facades.
The development project aims to create a new centrality for the residents of Bordeaux and, by considering the station as a city entrance, become a showcase of urban situations. The enhancement of heritage involves the rehabilitation of preserved buildings, but also the creation of visual openings towards the railway network. At the intersection of numerous morphologies, the Amédée-Saint-Germain project must synthesize the different models in order to establish continuity. It is not about reproducing the vernacular fabric of the city center, nor the logic of the blocks of the stone city, but rather about inventing a new form to extend these urban experiences and bring forth a uniqueness that makes the most of this insular geography.
The urban project is composed of three parts: - The north-western part, on Rue Amédée - The central axis, eventually connected with the central station, where the old workshops are located - The south-eastern part, visible from the railway tracks. These three parts of the project play different and specific roles in defining a coherent whole. The north-western part is the true transitional space between Sacré-Cœur and Amédée Saint-Germain. It reinterprets the urban form of the stone city and incorporates the codes and morphology, as well as elements of the language of the “échoppes” neighborhood while bringing density and a change of scale. The central axis is the heart of the project, weaving a specific identity based on the memory of the “already there”. It consists of a commercial mall, a park, and public spaces aimed at generating attractiveness and responding to the needs of both current residents and future inhabitants. The railway-facing façade composed of the southeastern part is one of the first images a traveler has of the city, a kind of gateway to Bordeaux. Here, the buildings become abstract, and the elements of the language change scale to introduce a form of monumentality.
The Amédée Saint-Germain district - In the image of an innovative and attractive urban district, the Amédée sector concentrates on mixed and coherent activities with the context. Housing, offices, and shops are the three programs that define the uses of the site. Close to the city center and in a quiet neighborhood, the demand for housing is high on the site. Within these housing units, diversity is provided through various types and typologies that will attract diverse populations. Housing options will include properties for sale, for rent, residences, etc. Public space - To meet the needs of new arrivals and neighborhood residents, the project offers a program linked to commercial activity. Located along the mall, either in the base of the parking areas or in the buildings of the mall (both existing and new), users benefit from a generous and calm pedestrian outdoor space. This unique space aims to become the attractive center of the neighborhood by offering activities and shops for residents and workers.
Enhancing heritage - The revitalization of the Amédée Saint-Germain sector involves enhancing heritage and preserving the railway memory. This heritage approach includes both the rehabilitation and showcasing of preserved buildings, as well as the creation of visual openings towards the railway network. The Amédée Mall consists of buildings with an industrial warehouse-like style, with heights limited to 14 meters at the ridge. This morphology is reproduced along the site, thus freeing the ground from any construction on either side to offer a maximum of public space. A 12-meter strip separates the old hangars from the new buildings on Rue Amédée Saint-Germain, creating the “rue des citernes”. Additionally, a 21-meter setback on the railway side generates the Amédée mall, thus providing breathing space in the heart of this dense neighborhood.
Rue Amédée - The buildings on Rue Amédée are R+4 (ground floor plus four stories) to create a harmonious relationship with the “échoppes” fabric. Designed as “townhouses”, they ensure the transition between the existing and the new neighborhood. Building D, the only one with R+6 (ground floor plus six stories), serves as a visible landmark from Rue Billaudel. The ground floors, benefiting from significant height, are occupied by lobbies that play on transparency and permeability towards the heart of the blocks. No housing units are located on the ground floor facing Rue Amédée. The “rue des citernes” - The new Amédée Saint Germain district is defined by its existing, distinctive, and unique architectures. The site presented this opportunity, and the project sought to capture it. Everything is built around this industrial archaeology. From public spaces to functional planning, the enhancement of these railway memories was essential. The public spaces are designed to offer a variety of uses, such as the Mall, the Squares, Halles Park, Cisterns Square, and ramps. Acceptable density - The project aims to make the high density of the neighborhood acceptable through several measures. Firstly, there’s an approach of functional and social mix by integrating various types of housing, shops, and offices to promote diversity and reduce distances. Secondly, creating green spaces, parks, and collective and public facilities improves the quality of life. Architecture that enhances natural light and the friendliness of spaces also contributes to this goal.
The courtyards - Arranged on a parking podium, the courtyards of the blocks provide common outdoor spaces for residents, a place for interaction and relaxation. The gardens - The area around Gare Saint-Jean features long and narrow blocks, with a mineral-built frontage and a vegetated core. The proposed layout includes a suspended garden visible from the street and the lobbies, integrating greenery into a mineral environment. A garden on the parking deck arranged like a cloister, surrounded by paved paths and green spaces, offers different vegetation layers to manage views and biodiversity. Pedestrian circulation uses the “cale bordelaise” style, and planted joints serve as interfaces between the residences and the garden, replacing fences. At the end, hazelnut groves provide urban squares with benches for enjoying the view. The plateau is designed as a self-sustaining garden, maintaining itself through the natural decomposition of dead wood, ensuring its sustainability.
From parking lot to courtyard - The main public parking facility, along Rue Amédée Saint-Germain, offers approximately 688 spaces spread over two levels, serving as a base for blocks 9.11 and 9.12. Its main entrance is from Rue Amédée Saint-Germain, with a secondary entrance from Rue SNCF. A second private parking facility, dedicated to blocks 9.18 and 9.17, provides around 300 spaces. It is accessible from Rue des Arches and is located on a single level along the street of the former workshops. Public spaces - Within a 500-meter radius of the Sacré Cœur district, only Place du Cardinal Donnet exists. This space, centered around the Sacré Cœur parish (built in 1870), struggles to create a centrality due to the absence of shops, despite having playgrounds, a pétanque court, and bus line 9 serving the area. There is a lack of a vibrant public space in the neighborhood. Rue Amédée, connecting Rue de Bègles to Gare Saint Jean, has the potential to accommodate such an attractive space. Each part of the project is designed with this goal in mind. The squares - The project draws inspiration from traditional paving patterns in the city of Bordeaux, particularly from the sidewalks of Sacré Cœur, which consist of an assembly of paving stones arranged at a 45° angle. The palette of materials remains mineral, favoring stone, brick, or concrete. The choice of materials for the passages is consistent with those of the public spaces, designed as extensions of the mineral carpet.
Transparency at the heart of the block - In addition to the public-private passage, the project proposes nuances and transitions to facilitate movement from the public to the collective. These elements act as additional invitations to stimulate curiosity and discovery. Through gaps, openings, and outdoor spaces, we introduce a “proper transparency” that ensures the necessary urban character while highlighting the connection between architecture and vegetation. The faults - The urban frontage is continuous but marked by setbacks, openings, and spaces for breathing. Faults between the buildings open towards the interior of the block, stimulating curiosity and a desire to cross over to discover what lies beyond. These gaps allow for crossing through private gardens and directly connecting them to Rue Amédée and Rue de la Compagnie de Midi, either physically or visually. The double scale - The first step in selecting the project’s vocabulary involved searching within this vast ensemble for a common thread capable of spanning history—a motif that could be found equally in the architecture of the historic center as well as in railway industrial architecture or that of the Sacré Cœur district. It’s a process of seeking a common denominator: the shape of a window, the rhythm of a composition, the relationship between voids and solids, the grid. The result of this study led us towards a geometry capable of transcending building typology and scale: the double height.
Materiality - To engage in dialogue with the stone city, the proportions and relationships between voids and built structures are preserved. The facades of the projects in the northern part are variations on the theme of the traditional Bordeaux “échoppe” facade: common floor heights shared by all buildings, minimal ornamentation, and composition on a grid. The facades are mineral; stone is used to transition towards the new district. Innovative typologies - This project aims to make urban housing as attractive as individual houses, with their advantages in terms of privacy and outdoor space, but without environmental and territorial drawbacks. Each building offers various types of housing, reflecting different relationships with the outdoors and specific lifestyles. Outdoor areas - Duplexes designed like stacked “échoppes”, apartments with large continuous loggias, offer a diversity of living spaces. These variations in layouts, programs, and sizes allow us to explore the potential of a new neighborhood while preserving the uniqueness of each residence, all within a coherent overall architectural framework.
