The urban strategy is modeled on the perception of three buildings: the T6C building must complete a defined urban front on Avenue de France, consisting of a perspective starting from the Simone de Beauvoir footbridge and through the National Library of France. Finally, linking Rue Du Chevaleret and the green promenade with the sunken Halle Freyssinet creates a new angle of view against the building.

The framework for this exercise proved to be a four-level beam, based on point supports, and with three additional floors. The matrix is a rectangular plan recessed at its center, forming a large funnel shape that measures 18 by 25 meters. The first part contains a public program, the second, workspaces, and the third, shared spaces (restaurants, etc.).

The simplicity of the plan opposes the rich and meticulous work of defining and writing each element of each façade of each space. The desire to understand interiority and exteriority guided the research on materiality as two different situations, because of their distinct spatial qualities in terms of scales and functions.

Far from being translated into an opaque and dense mass, the biased compactness has allowed the emergence of an intangible object; an architecture made of lightweight glass and finely hatched steel. In addition to opening a “window” of the city and enabling users to enjoy the scenery, the interplay of transparency and light creates a subtle landmark that is visible from the bridge.

Client: Les Nouveaux Constructeurs / Cost: € 54.2M excl. VAT / Surface: 16410 m² / Schedule: 2012 / Team: Spie Batignolles (Company), Arcora (Facades)