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International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory
International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory
Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Project Featured on Aug 28, 2015
Project of the Day on Aug 28, 2015
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Other Projects by Atelier Stéphane Fernandez
International Accommodation Centre for the Oceanological Observatory
Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
Project Featured on Aug 28, 2015
Project of the Day on Aug 28, 2015
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2013
SIZE
3000 sqft - 5000 sqft
BUDGET
$1M - 5M
This visitors' center consists of a restaurant and working space for scientific research and 74 guests. The building is part of a complex of facilities which include the oceanological research center and observatory of Banyuls-sur-Mer, in France.
This observatory is located in the middle of the marine natural reserve of Cerbères-Banyuls, in the Pyrénées Orientales region. Its purpose, as a European scientific research and training center, is to accommodate scientists and students from all over the world during short research and experimentation missions.
The building is located on the seaside and embraces the existing environment—the sky, the ground, and the horizon. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and adheres to the building height plan of the city.
Its ochre tones reflect the surrounding hills and the nature of the soil that makes up the cultivated terraces of the hinterlands. These hills, covered with vineyards, tower above the sea and glint with the deep earthy hues of iron oxides.
The project, a rectangular monolith entirely coated in a gown of pink-ochre coral, faces the marina. It marks the limits of the shore and the city. Behind this undulating envelope, access to the bedrooms is provided by large peripheral walkways that also serve as balconies for the accommodations. These walkways are covered with a self-consolidating concrete mesh inspired by the graphic, light, and see-through design of Gorgones coral.
We developed the façades using distinct shapes, also called strands, that were cast on site. These "strands" were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm, creating vibration in the shadows and the matter.
The restaurant is on the second floor. Its presence is highlighted by a large breach in the coral mesh, a window inviting the landscape inside and offering a panoramic view of the horizon and the open sea. The colorful concrete mesh is a visual filter—it provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms, and walkways. It also features openings which offer a subtle variation to the framing of the near and far landscape.
The international accommodation center of Banyuls-sur-Mer draws its energy from the Mediterranean Sea; the project takes a poetic and scientific approach to revealing the landscape.
Photography by Fernando Guerra, FG+SG.
This observatory is located in the middle of the marine natural reserve of Cerbères-Banyuls, in the Pyrénées Orientales region. Its purpose, as a European scientific research and training center, is to accommodate scientists and students from all over the world during short research and experimentation missions.
The building is located on the seaside and embraces the existing environment—the sky, the ground, and the horizon. It reinvents the relationship between the view and the landscape, and adheres to the building height plan of the city.
Its ochre tones reflect the surrounding hills and the nature of the soil that makes up the cultivated terraces of the hinterlands. These hills, covered with vineyards, tower above the sea and glint with the deep earthy hues of iron oxides.
The project, a rectangular monolith entirely coated in a gown of pink-ochre coral, faces the marina. It marks the limits of the shore and the city. Behind this undulating envelope, access to the bedrooms is provided by large peripheral walkways that also serve as balconies for the accommodations. These walkways are covered with a self-consolidating concrete mesh inspired by the graphic, light, and see-through design of Gorgones coral.
We developed the façades using distinct shapes, also called strands, that were cast on site. These "strands" were then assembled in modules according to a simple mathematical algorithm, creating vibration in the shadows and the matter.
The restaurant is on the second floor. Its presence is highlighted by a large breach in the coral mesh, a window inviting the landscape inside and offering a panoramic view of the horizon and the open sea. The colorful concrete mesh is a visual filter—it provides a wall that guarantees the intimacy of users, bedrooms, and walkways. It also features openings which offer a subtle variation to the framing of the near and far landscape.
The international accommodation center of Banyuls-sur-Mer draws its energy from the Mediterranean Sea; the project takes a poetic and scientific approach to revealing the landscape.
Photography by Fernando Guerra, FG+SG.
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