In the 3rd Arrondissement of the French city of Lyon, construction has begun on Lyon Part-Dieu, an MVRDV-designed scheme seeking to transform the city’s main shopping center. Featuring partly-transparent glass and a public green roof, the MVRDV scheme will revitalize and integrate what was formerly an introverted complex built for an era dominated by the car.
At 166,000 square meters, Lyon Part-Dieu is the largest downtown shopping center in Europe, built in 1975. In order to improve the existing outdated complex, MVRDV worked with co-architects SUD to produce a design that offers a contemporary update to the existing façade and a re-organization of the interior program.
The design restructures each side of the mall to integrate with neighboring streets, whilst a vast green public roof garden offers peace from the bustling streets below, and views towards the city’s Basilica Fourvière. Through reorganization of the interior, and repurposing of an existing car park, MVRDV have added an extra 32,000 square meters of commercial and public space, hosting restaurants, parks, and a cinema.
Significant alterations to the existing concrete façade seek to reconnect the mall with its immediate surroundings, and enhance pedestrian flows. By dissolving existing concrete patterns, the alterations seek to permeate the opaque façade in a transition from concrete to glass, whilst a depolluting coating will improve surrounding air quality.
With Lyon Part-Dieu, we draw this facade with big pixels which we hope will give a more human scale not just to the mall, but the whole site. In 2020, Lyon Part-Dieu will be both a place for everyday life and shopping, but also culture and relaxation in a reinvented setting. - Winy Maas, Co-Founder, MVRDV
Owing to a sophisticated phasing scheme, the shopping center will remain operational throughout the project. With construction now underway, alterations to Lyon Part-Dieu are expected to be completed by 2020.
Architects: MVRDV, SUD
Location: Lyon, France
Architects in Charge: Winy Maas, Jacob Van Rijs, Nathalie De Vries
Design Team: Winy Maas, Frans de Witt, Bertrand Schippan with Catherine Drieux, Antoine Muller, Daniel Diez, Maxime Cunin, Irene Todero, Jean-Rémi Houel, Leo Stuckardt, Saskia Kok, Boris Tikvarski, Paul Mas, Paul Sanders, Julius Kirchert, Andrei Ducu Pedrescu, Karolina Szóstkiewicz, Marie-Aline Rival, Solène de Bouteiller, Ana Melgarejo Lopez, Clémentine Artru, Clémentine Bory, Davide Salamino, Maxime Richaud, Javier Cuenca, Severine Bogers, Marie Saladin, Francesco Barone and Pierre-Emmanuel Escoffier
Client: Unibal
Area: 166,000m2
Project Year: 2013+
Project Managers: Artelia
Landscapist: BASE
Facade Consultant: VP&Green
Fire Security Consultant: PCSI
Structural Consultants: Y Ingénierie, WSP
Economist: Cyprium
Technical Controller: Socotec
News via: MVRDV
MVRDV Reveals Plans to Transform Part-Dieu Shopping Center in Lyon
MVRDV and the Mayor of Lyon have revealed plans to transform the city's Part-Dieu shopping center. The commission, awarded to MVRDV after the practice won a competition in 2013, focuses on preserving the center's original identity while redefining its public spaces and revitalizing its "iconic" facade.
