Office 64

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Office 64

Firm

Patrick Arotcharen

Type

Commercial › Office

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2011

SIZE

300,000 sqft - 500,000 sqft

BUDGET

$5M - 10M

Introduction
The
housing association ‘l’Office 64 de l’Habitat’, decided to build their new
headquarters in Bayonne, a city active in its construction of social housing,
in the South West of France.
It
was here, on a green densely planted site overlooking the Adour river from the
hilltop, that the client decided that they wanted to bring together all their
services under one roof creating a kinetic and graphic object housing two main
functions, a new exciting public space and the workspace and hub of the social
housing programme.

The
project itself follows several strong primary moves. It cuts the site in two,
defining the southern side as the public ‘front’ leaving tucked away the northern
service side dedicated to staff parking, delivery facilities and site
management. The building sits aligned
east west, parallel to the main road, placed between the majestic sycamore
trees, planted to the north and south façades. The private access road peels
off the main road carving a groove within the grounds. This rivalry between the
vegetative mass and the built front creates a tension that dramatizes the site.
The organic form and composition of the built element projected out eastwards
opposes that of the grouped office spaces, arranged over 3 floors, and the
public reception spaces on the ground floor.
The
proposed architecture mixes fluidly and harmoniously, the external landscaping,
the built façades and the integrated ‘roofscapes’, in one composition forming a
rhythmic dynamic sculpture. This object built into the arc of the ‘avenue de
Prissé’ thus becomes that of a kinetic discovery. It accompanies the fluid movement of the
passing vehicles.

The
architectural expression becomes even more apparent through the high environmental
and technical design of the building’s skin. Not only does the skin have a real
ecological function, it acts a tactile, instructive and didactic surface. The
south façade take the form of a double glass skin filtering light and heat
energy. The solar and ventilation louvers coupled with the small opening
sections of the façade work together to compose a moulded, layered façade,
protecting and controlling the internal ambient environment. It was important
to create a non-typical office hub designed specifically for the users within;
an object, which opposed the formal office conventions. Here the written and
spatial architecture privileges comfort, transparency, warmth of building
materials and naturel colours and tones. We wanted to create an object made up
from an alternating sequence of opaque and transparent experiences, adding
depth and perspective to the outlook from the internal workspaces and vice
versa, at the same time conserving an aspect of intimacy. This tactile, surface
layering adds to the kinetic and sculptural form of the building whose external
skin changes with each external movement.

Structure and skin
Over
almost 3500m2, the building rests along a supporting concrete spine however the
ground floor public spaces and the 3rd floor management office
spaces are built in entirely using structural timber, where a system of columns
and supporting beams sets up a grid like rhythm, spaced at 60cm intervals. Using
timber as the primary and/or secondary structural system to set up a dynamic
within the building and coupling this with a living, breathing ever-changing façade,
which reflects the surrounding landscape, lends itself to a building rich in
detail and experiences.

As
the client was particularly interested in producing a building highly energy
efficient, both the structural solutions and the breathing external membrane
were designed and developed with great attention. The inertia created by the
structural mass of the concrete couples itself with a highly performing
building envelope. The building in itself has been treated much like that of a
green house whose insulating double skin not only reflects its surroundings but
stores up energy in winter recycled within the internal ventilation system in
order to heat the workspaces. In the summertime, the louvers open up, letting
the building and office spaces breathe with a naturel ventilation system. These
louvers open naturally when the temperature reaches a certain maximum ambient
temperature. The composite façade panels are fixed at an angle which produces
and interesting three dimensional surface which follows the same setting out as
that of the timber structure and also creates an undeniable graphic effect. Additional
solar protection is provided through the construction of external walkways
between the two external skins, wide enough to ensure the upkeep and servicing
throughout the building and through the installation of multi-coloured angled
(45°) timber-cladding
boards.
The building has a very high-energy
performance rating.