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Architects: La Nouvelle Agence
- Area: 450 m²
- Year: 2011
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Photographs:LNA / Benoit Schmeltz
Text description provided by the architects. The project is a 4m high sheltering roof located at the crossing point between the Pessac train station and the end of a tramway line going from Pessac to Bordeaux. The site is on top of a underground car parking area. Existing objects that had to be taken into consideration include a pedestrian tunnel entrance, an elevator, and a ventilation chimney.
The space under the roof is a place of waiting and meeting. The multiple columns needed to build the structure on the car park are organized around the existing obstacles, redrawing and organizing the lines from the tramway to the trains, the trains to the station etc.
The entire project is made out of local pine wood except for the steel column bases and a few structural beams linking the column heads together. This choice of materials brings a sense of warmth and comfort in an otherwise cold and monotonous environment.
We invited french artist Laurent LeDeunff to bring an additional semantic layer to the project. Five sculptures of bird heads are emerging from the column lines, some reassuring, some scary.