The Italian group Marchesini, a leader in the manufacturing of machinery and complete packaging lines for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, has decided to build its French headquarters in Saint-Mesmes, a small town located between Roissy and Meaux in the Seine-et-Marne Department. The site’s main attraction resides in the quality of the surrounding landscape, a mixture of agricultural fields, forest, and hills. The topography on which the 1,000 m2 building will sit has a three-meter variation in height. There are a number of interactions that one must measure in this remarkable area: the one between users and the building, and between the building and its environment, of course without neglecting the one connecting the user to the environment. It is a question of prioritising these intentions to embed the project within the larger territory and to formalise its essential duality as an object to be seen in the landscape, from which one then also observes the landscape.

The building integrates itself into the village landscape without overshadowing other constructions because it takes the shape of a thick line that runs parallel to the horizon, hugging the slope of the ground. It culminates in a cantilever where the pitch is the steepest. The structure is a mix of steel and concrete; the dark volume is unified by the black tint of the regularly placed, smooth-faced panels. The inner walls bend where they meet the roof to form the building’s fifth façade. Situated along the flight path to nearby Charles de Gaulle airport, it reveals multiple facets to the overflying aircraft, from whose perspective it takes the shape of a boulder. The contradiction between its full façades facing the road, which emphasize the building’s presence in the landscape, and the transparency of the glass string courses that look out onto the countryside provide a sense of nuance to the program’s radical implantation.

The headquarters are divided into two volumes that together form a “V.” At their intersection lies the entrance, an open space in the form of a reception area. The entirety of the program elements pivots around this central point. To avoid separations between the servant spaces, they have been fashioned not as hallways, rather as broader transitional spaces to encourage employee interaction. Through a large square window, these open spaces look out onto the village church, the architectural element most visible from the site. The building’s shape is intrinsically tied to its functionality. In one wing, an area is devoted to offices that can be remodulated. In the other, there is a workshop area for manufacturing, a storage area, and a white-walled exhibition space with a rough flooring to focus clients’ attention on the machines on show. The offices are located in the high part of the terrain and all benefit from views of the countryside. They have been size generously, far above average: 24 m² for individual offices and up to 34 m² for working spaces that can accommodate up to 3 people. Aside from the company cafeteria and the conference rooms, the rest of the program is concentrated in the lower part, which is anchored to the slope. All the spaces are endowed with different qualities in function of their lighting needs and finishings. From within the rooms, the ceiling height of 3.50 m is reinforced by large picture windows whose fine, black joinery frames the natural world outside for contemplation. Interior blinds grant users privacy and protect the building from direct sunlight, providing a more domestic sense of scale.

Client: Marchesini Group / Cost: € 1.7M excl. VAT / Surface: 1250 m² / Schedule: 2006 – 2008 / Team: Batiserf Ingénierie (Structure), Choulet (M.E.P.), Dutheuil Construction (Company)