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22AUG 2012

La Cite Des Affaires / Manuelle Gautrand Architecture

Posted in Architecture - Office Buildings by * FORMAKERS

The site of this building is near the main train station, in an area undergoing redevelopment that will bring high density land use and become a vital liaison point between the centre of Saint-Etienne and the new Chateaucreux neighbourhood, to which it forms a major entranceway.

The building (property developer: Altarea-Cogedim) constitutes a pole grouping several government bodies that will set up there; Regional Development Authority, Tax Services, Epora, Saint-Etienne Métropole, a.

Service and leisure facilities will also be part of the mix; including a shared corporate restaurant, café, and parking.

The total area is 25,000 sq m.

The idea is to develop a long-built ‘continuum’ on the site to interact with adjacent streets.

A linear construction that rears up and unfolds but also hugs the ground line to form a low accessible building - one that opens up spacious courts and lifts bold overhangs.

The architects' desire for continuity in construction does not simply reflect the idea of building a legible and unitary urban landmark, it also provides the flexibility that the project needs.

In fact, the principle behind this continuum is to imagine a set of ‘communicating parts’ that enable the user-administrations to merge into a whole, one and all, and to evolve according to their needs in harmony with those of other tenants.

The absence of breaks in surfaces will ensure that things remain open-ended, with the possibility of extending or reducing space.

Depending on their needs, tenants will be able to extend or reduce the floor-space they occupy.

The project is like a large ‘Aztec serpent’ rising on the lot.

Its body has three identical outer faces, and an underside that is different: a skin of silvery transparent scales and a bright yellow ‘throat’, shiny and opaque.

City:
Saint-Etienne, France

Design team:
Manuelle Gautrand Architecture

Status:
Completed

Website:
http://www.manuelle-gautrand.com/office/profile/

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