The difficulty, however, was to have an urban approach and delineate something that has the character of a city, of an ensemble of individual situations which are gathered together inside a confined space. The thermal chamber, placed right at the middle of the project becomes the central element of the composition. The proposed disciplines are placed all around the volume of the thermal chamber with a double height structure. This arrangement generates exchange and action. By taking advantage of the geographical position of the site the assemblage of the buildings, it offers various views towards the center of Paris. The flexibility of the space is generated by the treatment of the structure and the depth of the building. The beam-pillar structure makes it possible to dismiss the load-beaming walls and the buildings are horizontally braced by the core-center. This system allows a free-plan spatiality.

A glass skin covers the structure, making the building transparent so that the actions that take place inside are visible from the outside. The openness is one the fundamental values of the company and is materialized through this transparency. Rather than trying to appease the specific criteria of high quality environmental standards, this project is about forming a dialectical relationship between site, climate and culture. We propose to densely plant all the free space outside to create a vigorous landscape that creates multiple views throughout the entire garden and to value the site. The premise is to portray the brand imagery of Saint Gobain, through a planted landscape, while still respecting the industrial character of the site and the brand.

Client: Saint-Gobain Recherche et développement / Cost: € 37.4M excl. VAT / Surface: 13120 m² / Schedule: 2013 / Team: Michel Forgue (Surveyor), Franck Boutté (HEQ), Base (Landscape)