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Office Building – Porte des Lilas, Paris
Office Building – Porte des Lilas, Paris
Paris, France
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Other Projects by Herault Arnod Architects
Office Building – Porte des Lilas, Paris
Paris, France
A PLOT WHERE SEVERAL
URBAN PRINCIPLES INTERSECTThe "seams" where the city of Paris connects with the towns and villages immediately
around it are an essential factor in the coherence of the future development of
the Paris
conurbation. The areas of land situated directly on the fringes perform a particular symbolic role.
Avenue René Fonck, which extends into Avenue
Jean-Jaurès running down towards the centre of Pré-Saint-Gervais, is typical of
the urban sequences that mark the shift from Paris to the inner suburbs, beyond the
Périphérique, with its changes of pattern, scale and type. The "border
crossing point", here a junction, is particularly important in this sense:
the switches between the dense and continuous fabric of inner-city Paris and the more varied
fabric of the suburbs could take the form of a succession of "fades"
rather than sharp breaks.
In the case of the project for an office building and
business premises in lot F5, we mainly focused on the following features of the
site:
-
Avenue René Fonck, which directly
links Pré-Saint-Gervais to Porte des Lilas, will eventually have a straight
line of buildings on its eastern side, giving an unbroken facade
-
The Western facade of the Rue René
Fonck plot will be visible from the
Périphérique and conversely, the upper floors of the building will have a
panoramic view into the distance, giving the building a relationship with the larger landscape
-
Rue Raoul Wallenberg, a largely residential street, is asymmetrical,
with a straight line of buildings on one side and on the other side the square
at the foot of the "Babylone" residence, which runs along the
municipal boundary
-
The square is an
important part of the neighbourhood, used by families as a green space and used
as a walkway directly connecting Pré-Saint-Gervais
and Porte des Lilas. In fact, the walkway continues towards the centre of Pré
through the block situated on the other side of Avenue du Belvédère, making it
an important functional feature.
SITING
PRINCIPLES
After analysing the site, we based our project on a
simple principle, which aims to achieve
greater urbanity and density along Rue René Fonck and to extend the green space
on the eastern side in order to emphasise the residential character of Rue Raoul Wallenberg whilst providing
local people with pleasant surroundings
-
We propose to increase building density in the lower section of the plot, along
Avenue René Fonck. In order to create a continuous building line up to the
crossroads, the Western façade is
extended as an overhang up to the edge of the plot: as a result, the new
building forms a pair with the high building on the other side of Avenue du
Belvédère, and helps to "hold" the urban pattern up to the entrance
to Pré-St-Gervais, so that the new operation is not isolated.
-
In order to free the upper part of
the plot, our project is grouped into 2
building structures instead of the 3 suggested by the specifications. On
the upper section are business premises, solely at ground floor level. They are
partly set into the ground and their horizontal roofline is covered with earth
where tall vegetation and trees will be planted. As a result, this new garden will maintain visual
continuity with the square, continuing the "green" edge of Rue Raoul
Wallenberg.
-
This layout takes the eye away from
the imposing visual impact of the "Babylone" residence, while at the
same time offering its residents a garden
foreground. The old people's home and the creche situated at the end of the
square will also benefit from a view
over garden rather than buildings.
OPENNESS
AND IDENTITY
We understood the wish to use the new operation to open up visual connections between Pré-St-Gervais and Paris, and the need for the building not
to become a barrier. Our project forms a U opening to the north, thereby
diminishing the impact of the structure as seen from from le Pré. With the
dimensions defined by the site specifications, the top of the office building
will emerge within the existing "skyline" visible from the bottom of
Avenue Jean Jaurès. Reducing the project from 3 building structures to 2 will
also diminish the sense of bulk from that viewpoint.
In order to function properly, the building requires
horizontal links at each level. The desired North/South porousness is created
by transparent walkways: a lacework of glass-sided bridges offset from each
other in the vertical plane, carries the eye through on the northern side,
whilst on the southern side further glass-sided platforms rise upwards,
narrowing as they do so to become a single walkway.
With this design, the building forms single and unitary structure, which asserts its identity whilst offering a
transparency of view in its centre.
ORGANISATION
OF THE VOLUME AND OF THE PLOT
The different functional entities are organised into
three horizontal layers:
-
The business
premises form a podium block which absorbs the gradient and
provides the link to the natural terrain. They are organised on two levels at
the bottom of the plot, on Rue René Fonck, in the central structure of the
office block and in the two side wings. They extend into a semiunderground
level organised around a technical yard on the upper part of the plot. Roofed
over with gardens, this structure looks like an extension of the natural
terrain.
-
The 4 standard
office floors consist of 2 wings 18 metres long, forming
an open U whose northern part is divided in accordance with prospect
requirements. The inside of the U creates a wide and bright trapezium-shaped
patio, measuring 15.5
metres at its narrowest point and 29 metres at its widest.
-
The attic, which can
contain offices or specific communal premises, consists of two structures set
back 3 metres,
placed on the terrace roofs that can be accessed from the topmost standard
floor. The structure on Rue René Fonck slopes gently upwards to the south to
form an additional floor by the corner.
The route of the
internal service road serving the business premises has been changed from
the plot layout specifications: in order not to split the garden, and in order
to improve service to all the premises and avoid a big line of ramps, we
propose taking this road from the required access point to the centre of the
plot and to position the exit in the middle of Rue Raoul Wallenberg rather than
at the top. This road will serve a lower lobby (level 100.50 NGF) for the
ground floor premises, then go up to the next level via a ramp.
It then serves the
courtyard onto which the upper level premises open (level…NGF), thus
creating a social space, an area of
communal life extending from the private space.
We see this as a paved courtyard
with 3 trees in the middle, like the traditional workshop courtyards in
Parisian apartment blocks. The road continues under the eastern wing of offices
and is then extended by the garden patio,
which slopes gently downwards to the ground floor business premises.
Across the plot, the
outdoor green spaces are interlaced with the buildings. The breathing space
described above, created by the continuity between courtyard and patio under
the building, is extended vertically above the patio by a vertical garden,
planted along the walkways and on the line of terraces falling away on the
southern side or at the end of the east wing. The patio, a space that is
bright, airy and busy, creates an attractive and surprising interior world that
is visible from outside. This world contributes to the identity of the building
and to the quality of life within the workspaces. It provides a contrast with the simplicity of
the exterior structure.
OPERATION,
ACCESS AND CIRCULATION ZONES
Business
premises
Their access points are "connected" to the
service road, which is widened for parking and loading and unloading. A lower
lobby, near the entrance gate, provides access to the ground floor premises and
to the first floor via a goods lift. The upper level premises open directly to
the outside and have a shared lobby for mailboxes. The platforms are laid out
so that they can be divided into 300 square metre
transverse sections with natural lighting. The sanitary facilities are
distributed so as to be accessible however the platforms are divided. Given the
depth of the building (16 or 18
metres interior depth), the outer walls are set with
large continuous strips of glass whose tall, narrow profiles resemble those of
traditional workshops.
The
offices
The lobby is located on
Rue Raoul Wallenberg at the building's centre of gravity. It is set into the upper level of workshops.
It is accessed from the street by a few steps and an external stairway. It can
also be accessed at ground level from the service road pavement. The hall is
entirely transparent, so that the
internal garden and the different walkways can be seen from the outside. The
lobby area controls access to the lifts and staircases located around the
space, which lead to the different floors of offices, and also to the car park
lift.
Each office platform,
on the standard floors, forms a loop with vertical distribution through lifts
and stairs situated in the southern part of each wing, and an additional
emergency staircase in the west wing. They can function either in open plan or
partitioned format and can be divided into sections of 300 to 450 square metres.
The attic is narrow, and can be partitioned with a
central passage. All the offices open onto the panoramic terrace, which is covered with wooden decking.
The
car parks
They are organised into a two-level U layout in the
basement, below the ground floor business premises. Only the ramps linking the
two levels, more than 3
metres below ground, will be built under the patio,
which will thus be able to be laid to earth for a full range of vegetation.
Vehicles will enter and leave at the planned location
on Avenue René Fonck. The car parks are linked to each entity by independent
lifts and stairs: to the office lobby (by a lift with intermodal transfer), to
the business section lobbies located in the lower part of the plot, and to the
upper courtyard by a lift opening to the outside in the shelter of the
building.
URBAN PRINCIPLES INTERSECTThe "seams" where the city of Paris connects with the towns and villages immediately
around it are an essential factor in the coherence of the future development of
the Paris
conurbation. The areas of land situated directly on the fringes perform a particular symbolic role.
Avenue René Fonck, which extends into Avenue
Jean-Jaurès running down towards the centre of Pré-Saint-Gervais, is typical of
the urban sequences that mark the shift from Paris to the inner suburbs, beyond the
Périphérique, with its changes of pattern, scale and type. The "border
crossing point", here a junction, is particularly important in this sense:
the switches between the dense and continuous fabric of inner-city Paris and the more varied
fabric of the suburbs could take the form of a succession of "fades"
rather than sharp breaks.
In the case of the project for an office building and
business premises in lot F5, we mainly focused on the following features of the
site:
-
Avenue René Fonck, which directly
links Pré-Saint-Gervais to Porte des Lilas, will eventually have a straight
line of buildings on its eastern side, giving an unbroken facade
-
The Western facade of the Rue René
Fonck plot will be visible from the
Périphérique and conversely, the upper floors of the building will have a
panoramic view into the distance, giving the building a relationship with the larger landscape
-
Rue Raoul Wallenberg, a largely residential street, is asymmetrical,
with a straight line of buildings on one side and on the other side the square
at the foot of the "Babylone" residence, which runs along the
municipal boundary
-
The square is an
important part of the neighbourhood, used by families as a green space and used
as a walkway directly connecting Pré-Saint-Gervais
and Porte des Lilas. In fact, the walkway continues towards the centre of Pré
through the block situated on the other side of Avenue du Belvédère, making it
an important functional feature.
SITING
PRINCIPLES
After analysing the site, we based our project on a
simple principle, which aims to achieve
greater urbanity and density along Rue René Fonck and to extend the green space
on the eastern side in order to emphasise the residential character of Rue Raoul Wallenberg whilst providing
local people with pleasant surroundings
-
We propose to increase building density in the lower section of the plot, along
Avenue René Fonck. In order to create a continuous building line up to the
crossroads, the Western façade is
extended as an overhang up to the edge of the plot: as a result, the new
building forms a pair with the high building on the other side of Avenue du
Belvédère, and helps to "hold" the urban pattern up to the entrance
to Pré-St-Gervais, so that the new operation is not isolated.
-
In order to free the upper part of
the plot, our project is grouped into 2
building structures instead of the 3 suggested by the specifications. On
the upper section are business premises, solely at ground floor level. They are
partly set into the ground and their horizontal roofline is covered with earth
where tall vegetation and trees will be planted. As a result, this new garden will maintain visual
continuity with the square, continuing the "green" edge of Rue Raoul
Wallenberg.
-
This layout takes the eye away from
the imposing visual impact of the "Babylone" residence, while at the
same time offering its residents a garden
foreground. The old people's home and the creche situated at the end of the
square will also benefit from a view
over garden rather than buildings.
OPENNESS
AND IDENTITY
We understood the wish to use the new operation to open up visual connections between Pré-St-Gervais and Paris, and the need for the building not
to become a barrier. Our project forms a U opening to the north, thereby
diminishing the impact of the structure as seen from from le Pré. With the
dimensions defined by the site specifications, the top of the office building
will emerge within the existing "skyline" visible from the bottom of
Avenue Jean Jaurès. Reducing the project from 3 building structures to 2 will
also diminish the sense of bulk from that viewpoint.
In order to function properly, the building requires
horizontal links at each level. The desired North/South porousness is created
by transparent walkways: a lacework of glass-sided bridges offset from each
other in the vertical plane, carries the eye through on the northern side,
whilst on the southern side further glass-sided platforms rise upwards,
narrowing as they do so to become a single walkway.
With this design, the building forms single and unitary structure, which asserts its identity whilst offering a
transparency of view in its centre.
ORGANISATION
OF THE VOLUME AND OF THE PLOT
The different functional entities are organised into
three horizontal layers:
-
The business
premises form a podium block which absorbs the gradient and
provides the link to the natural terrain. They are organised on two levels at
the bottom of the plot, on Rue René Fonck, in the central structure of the
office block and in the two side wings. They extend into a semiunderground
level organised around a technical yard on the upper part of the plot. Roofed
over with gardens, this structure looks like an extension of the natural
terrain.
-
The 4 standard
office floors consist of 2 wings 18 metres long, forming
an open U whose northern part is divided in accordance with prospect
requirements. The inside of the U creates a wide and bright trapezium-shaped
patio, measuring 15.5
metres at its narrowest point and 29 metres at its widest.
-
The attic, which can
contain offices or specific communal premises, consists of two structures set
back 3 metres,
placed on the terrace roofs that can be accessed from the topmost standard
floor. The structure on Rue René Fonck slopes gently upwards to the south to
form an additional floor by the corner.
The route of the
internal service road serving the business premises has been changed from
the plot layout specifications: in order not to split the garden, and in order
to improve service to all the premises and avoid a big line of ramps, we
propose taking this road from the required access point to the centre of the
plot and to position the exit in the middle of Rue Raoul Wallenberg rather than
at the top. This road will serve a lower lobby (level 100.50 NGF) for the
ground floor premises, then go up to the next level via a ramp.
It then serves the
courtyard onto which the upper level premises open (level…NGF), thus
creating a social space, an area of
communal life extending from the private space.
We see this as a paved courtyard
with 3 trees in the middle, like the traditional workshop courtyards in
Parisian apartment blocks. The road continues under the eastern wing of offices
and is then extended by the garden patio,
which slopes gently downwards to the ground floor business premises.
Across the plot, the
outdoor green spaces are interlaced with the buildings. The breathing space
described above, created by the continuity between courtyard and patio under
the building, is extended vertically above the patio by a vertical garden,
planted along the walkways and on the line of terraces falling away on the
southern side or at the end of the east wing. The patio, a space that is
bright, airy and busy, creates an attractive and surprising interior world that
is visible from outside. This world contributes to the identity of the building
and to the quality of life within the workspaces. It provides a contrast with the simplicity of
the exterior structure.
OPERATION,
ACCESS AND CIRCULATION ZONES
Business
premises
Their access points are "connected" to the
service road, which is widened for parking and loading and unloading. A lower
lobby, near the entrance gate, provides access to the ground floor premises and
to the first floor via a goods lift. The upper level premises open directly to
the outside and have a shared lobby for mailboxes. The platforms are laid out
so that they can be divided into 300 square metre
transverse sections with natural lighting. The sanitary facilities are
distributed so as to be accessible however the platforms are divided. Given the
depth of the building (16 or 18
metres interior depth), the outer walls are set with
large continuous strips of glass whose tall, narrow profiles resemble those of
traditional workshops.
The
offices
The lobby is located on
Rue Raoul Wallenberg at the building's centre of gravity. It is set into the upper level of workshops.
It is accessed from the street by a few steps and an external stairway. It can
also be accessed at ground level from the service road pavement. The hall is
entirely transparent, so that the
internal garden and the different walkways can be seen from the outside. The
lobby area controls access to the lifts and staircases located around the
space, which lead to the different floors of offices, and also to the car park
lift.
Each office platform,
on the standard floors, forms a loop with vertical distribution through lifts
and stairs situated in the southern part of each wing, and an additional
emergency staircase in the west wing. They can function either in open plan or
partitioned format and can be divided into sections of 300 to 450 square metres.
The attic is narrow, and can be partitioned with a
central passage. All the offices open onto the panoramic terrace, which is covered with wooden decking.
The
car parks
They are organised into a two-level U layout in the
basement, below the ground floor business premises. Only the ramps linking the
two levels, more than 3
metres below ground, will be built under the patio,
which will thus be able to be laid to earth for a full range of vegetation.
Vehicles will enter and leave at the planned location
on Avenue René Fonck. The car parks are linked to each entity by independent
lifts and stairs: to the office lobby (by a lift with intermodal transfer), to
the business section lobbies located in the lower part of the plot, and to the
upper courtyard by a lift opening to the outside in the shelter of the
building.
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