巴黎废弃火车站改造的活力新地标

Firm： Antonini Darmon Architects

Type： Commercial › Office

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2017

SIZE： 100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

BUDGET： $10M - 50M

Photos： Laurent Desmoulins (20), Marie Préchac (1)

Located at the entrance of the Avenue Pierre Mendes France, main artery of the Massena ZAC (urban development area), the Austerlitz Sud sector is the focus point for the forces of change at work in the neighborhood, which are gradually transforming this abandoned railway station into an urban space playing an active role in the city.

In spatial continuity with the buildings, the urban facade on the Avenue Pierre Mendes France consists of sequencing breaks.

The different recesses, whether cut out of the solid block or simply the facade, generate a stimulating effect of surprise – a series of pauses that call on the viewer to look beyond the building or to wonder about its inner life.

Transparent and thin, a shiny first layer of skin envelops the offices. Uniformly composed, it homogenizes dislocated volumes. More spider-like, a perforated mesh covers the skin to form a protective screen that caters to environmental needs and the offices’ interior comfort. Its irregular weave refines the solid body, while its thickness protects privacy and serves as a sunscreen.

Simple and sophisticated, the mesh is worked in correlation with the sequence of the volumes. Playing with proportions and perceptions, it takes on two different aspects. Mineral, white, straight, wide on one side, it contrasts with the “fine wooden mesh”, its fins that adjust to different orientations offering a kinetic effect to enrich the urban scenery.

Mineral and vegetable, the facades link the project to its context, in both its urban and landscape forms. Simple and elegant, the building takes on nuances and integrates different constraints from macro to micro, adjusting to each scale of its environment.