For the "Imagine Angers" international design competition, Vincent Callebaut Architectures worked in collaboration with Bouygues Immobilier group to submit a proposal for the French city at the intersection of social and technological innovation, with a focus on ecology and hospitality. Named Arboricole, meaning “tree” and “cultivation,” this live-work-play environment gives back as much to the environment as it does its users. Although WY-TO prevailed in the competition, the Callebaut scheme succeeded in winning the public vote.
For the Callebaut scheme's design process, inspiration began with Angers, the European plant capital, and Gambetta, the historic site with iconic views over the city center. The vision for the scheme was to create a unique living environment in the form of a vertical forest, integrating biodiversity into the ecosystem-like project by using the five principles of biophilic architecture. Biometrics is omnipresent in this work of living architecture. From views of the Angevin landscape, to the biomorphic shape of the building itself, to slight changes in the thermal environment and the use of natural materials - this creation is a full-body nature experience.
Young urban residence meets youth hostel in this effort to attract Millennials between 25-35 to a new type of urban living. Within each residential unit, removable panel partitions, made by Someta, allow residents to customize their own space. Throughout the building, shared facilities and amenities encourage collaboration and community.
“The Music Factory” concert hall inhabits the central core and is encircled by the “Anjou Factory,” a first-floor space dedicated to music and local products. On the second floor, the business incubator, “Bang!” offers rentable offices and shareable workshops. After work, users can grab a glass of local wine at the "Rooftop," a panoramic restaurant complete with hanging gardens.
This design proposal harmonizes three overarching renewable energy strategies: bioclimatism, aquaponics, and bio-based materials. The biomorphic form itself derives from the sun’s path and prevailing winds. Geothermal and solar energies (a thermal fridge pump on geothermal probes with hybrid solar panels) heat and cool the building. A “Mini Green Power” biomass transforms plant waste from the hanging gardens into resources. Planters are connected, allowing water to flow from the rooftop to the first floor to a rainwater collection pond. Recyclable materials are used throughout the scheme.
Design competitions allow us to explore innovations we might not have the time to explore in conventional projects. In this scheme, Vincent Callebaut Architectures and Bouygues Immobilier group took a deep dive into social and technological innovations with a focus on ecology and hospitality. Arboricle could be a prototype to build more united, sustainable cities.
News via: Vincent Callebaut Architectures
Inter-Generational Mixed Use Project Wins Imagine Angers Design Competition
International architecture competition, Imagine Angers , asked designers to create an innovative solution for one of six sites in Angers, France. Paris-based architecture firm WY-TO and Crespy & Aumont Architectes interlaced the natural landscape with a contemporary lifestyle for all ages in their winning design, Arborescence.
