The rehabilitation and extension of the CC2R headquarters responds to the need for the Communauté de Communes (federation of district councils) to occupy new premises that match both the scale of its administrative area and the scope of its current and future expertise and activities, while remaining on the same site as before.

The project comprised the demolition of four buildings, the subtle rehabilitation of an existing building, and the construction of an extension connected to the restructured building and providing a sense of continuity with the historic ramparts.
Owing to its location at the entrance to the town and its history—it is what remains of a 17th century convent—, the site to be redeveloped had a great deal of potential.
The redevelopment focuses on the most striking aspects of the site and its heritage value, reinterpreting them using a contemporary architectural vocabulary while ensuring that the result is in harmony with the existing built environment.

Extension

The extension has four storeys and its façades are made up of horizontal layers combining three materials: wood, white concrete and glass.

The layered design reflects the functional programme of the building: each layer corresponds to a specific function. The glass section houses the high-profile areas such as the council chamber, reception area, and function room.
The wooden section at the top houses the offices of the Communauté de Communes. The central core contains corridors, lifts and stairs leading efficiently to all the offices, which are arranged along the façades so that they are well lit and so that their occupants can enjoy views of the surroundings. The basket-like wooden structure wrapped all around this upper section acts as a sunscreen.
The bottom section, made of white concrete with an aggregate of Bazeille stone, is topped with metal fins echoing the arrowslits in the existing ramparts. It continues on from the ramparts and forms the building’s undercroft, which is on two levels.
The lower level rises from the front concourse and contains the car park, whose entrance is slipped in between two curved walls. The upper section, with its long row of tall vertical fins separated by gaps, protects an area of the building to be occupied in future by offices situated along the façade, providing occupants with natural light and views of the surroundings.

The vertical fins form an efficient sunscreen on the south and east façades while echoing the monolithic character of the historic wall. The top section housing the offices of the Communauté de Communes is wrapped in a wooden structure made of curved, undulating laminated larch slats treated with pale brown timber saturator, supported by a vertical metal framework. The effect is of a woven basket floating above the concrete base. The larch weave becomes more open from top to bottom, in order to provide the offices with as much natural light as possible and to optimise the view through the windows.
Between these two volumes is an attractive glass section with a terrace overlooking the lower part of the town to the south and the main esplanade and upper reaches of the town to the north. The pale stone used for the interior floors and terraces is in keeping with the concrete base that continues on from the ramparts. The service areas and stairs and lifts are contained within a central section fitted out in wood or mirror-finish laminate, bringing light into the centre of the building and subtly reflecting the surrounding townscape.
The built-in furniture in the reception area echoes the materials and hues of the building itself: wood and black.

The existing building

This houses the social services department, councillors’ offices and meeting rooms, and the archives located in the basement. The original layout of the building has been retained as far as possible, and it fits in with the rest of the site in a simple, harmonious way. At the request of the client, its original colour has been retained. A glazed passageway connects it to the new building. This passageway, which was above all a functional requirement allowing users to move easily between departments, also makes it possible to avoid a clash between two architectural idioms, instead creating a subtle link between two complementary entities. The existing building has been modified here and there along its south-facing façade to make it possible to install the passageway. The south-facing roof pitch has been rebuilt to make it identical to the one facing north, resulting in a uniform four-pitch roof.

A stepped concourse planted with trees forms an area in continuity with the concrete undercroft and the ramparts. It provides a welcoming open space at the entrance to the town and sets off the architectural unity of the existing ramparts and the concrete undercroft.