The parcel URSSAF is part of a large territory that is being
reconstructed in de surroundings of Chateaucreux.
The parcel is situated at a strategic place – a joint of two
territories, two historical urban tissues at St-Etienne with at the
south the new quarter of Chateaucreux and in the north and east the
historical quarters of the city.
The site at St-Etienne is specific and waste, spread out in a
landscape which is caracterized by mountains creating height
differences that are both natural and artificial,a game of slopes and
planes; a mix of geography and industrial history. This large scope is
crossed by long rectangular avenues, visual penetrations, and
viewpoints that relate de neighborhoods with the distant landscape.
The stretched city, the low-density are characteristics that should be
turned into qualities and form the outlines of the design.
We should treat the parcel as an island with two important alignments:
one at Boulevard Dalgabio, the other one at rue de la Montat.
Therefore a passage has to be defined as well as a place that can
structure the whole./// The project should provide a strong rhythm
that gives meaning to the space at the end of the public square.
We also propose a realisation of a linear structure at the whole
length of the square at the east. At the north we’ll create a focus
point by creating a compact building to propose an increased
perspective from the square, which structures the linear till the end
of boulevard Dalgabio. In the south the frame of the street is
completed by the building for logistics to articulate the alignment
between rue de la Montat and the square. The angles are acute.
At the north, the facade displays three architectural elements: At the
ground floor, a reception with double height, articulating the
connection with the public square; Above a terrace - A common space
offered to the employees of URSSAF. On top, a overhang framing the