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Architects: Valode & Pistre
- Area: 28000 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Philippe Chancel
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Lead Architects: Denis Valode, Jean Pistre
Text description provided by the architects. This project is located in the southern part of the 7th district in Lyon. It enjoys an exceptional location between town and nature. On one side the Rhône and its banks and the Parc de Gerland and on the other a structured urban district along with avenue Tony Garnier. Its architecture is entirely dictated by the search for quality of its urban and environmental insertion and for the excellence of the living and working conditions it offers.
The project is made up of three parallel buildings, each with five floors and increasing in length from North to South. The main façades face South and North. The South façades are protected from the sun by large, continuous shade screens which work perfectly in this orientation and the North façades are exposed by definition. Thus the project is protected naturally from the sun which is essential for comfort and limiting expenditure on air-conditioning energy. This protection also allows for far taller windows on the façade.
The lack of apron wall and the low overhangs favor the view to the outside and the brightness of the office floors. The concept has a profound impact on the project architecture, which is expressed very differently depending on the orientations. The two buildings farthest South are linked by a perpendicular building to form a complex. The office floors are designed to give the greatest possible freedom of layout.
The vertical traffic hub is reduced to a minimum footprint and the additional emergency stairs are tacked on to the outside of the East gable. Combined with external landings, they provide additional linkages between floors. They form a highly significant, repetitive pattern for the project, a symbol of communication. A project inserted into its urban environment In the interests of urban coherence, the overall plan is arranged according to alignments initiated by existing buildings located to the North. These alignments are gradually altered as they progress Southwards to exploit the splayed shape of the plot and give full expression to the project design.
A permeable, highly-planted project The buildings' ground floors are arranged in a soft, curvilinear design that seems to expand freely in relation to the straight, parallel buildings. This fluid ground floor arrangement makes it possible to establish diagonal flow and visual permeabilities through the project. The visual device links the North-East corner of the project, which forms the main entrance, with the natural spaces of the banks of the Rhône and the Parc du Gerland located to the South-West. This flow also serves the various entrance halls. Nearly 2000 m² of green spaces line this route.
They are installed between the buildings and the façade recesses on the ground floor. There are 23 tall trees and sixteen shrubs. The gardens and pathways are for the benefit of the occupants of the buildings. They are developed as an extension of the public spaces. The first-floor terraces that cover the curved ground floor overhangs are laid out as accessible outdoor spaces. Their floors are wooden decking.
