CITÉ ADMINISTRATIVE
Transformation of the former administrative centre into a mixed- use residential and office building.
Lacaton & Vassal and Emmanuelle Delage Architecte will be transforming this administrative centre into a mixed-use building of flats and professional offices, the sales campaign for which has just been launched under the impetus of GReeStone Immobilier and Grand Ouest Immobilier.
The project blends architectural quality and urban insertion with the aim of reinventing this symbolic architecture into a lively place of sharing on both the social and environmental level.
Located in the very heart of the town, the administrative centre, built in 1967, is an emblematic place in the urban landscape of Vannes. It looks like a typical modernist administrative building of the 1960s with an understated, minimalist aesthetic marked by horizontal lines, and no ornamental features.
The centre is composed of six levels, of which a setback attic level, standing atop a three-level podium. The building’s four wings form cross-shaped plan.
The open construction system composed of posts, beams and floors created by open plates, occupied by offices, is distributed on either side of a corridor. All the partitions are light and can be broken down. Thus, this configuration blends conditions favourable to the transformation into a mixed-use building.
The project brief is organised around two existing volumes. The podium will include offices, shops, and services, whilst the cross-shaped volume will be dedicated to the construction of 86 flats (wings B, C, and D) and 90 flats for students and young employees (wing A).
The building’s general structure as well as its volumes will be fully maintained, without demolition. Remarkable architectural elements will also be kept, like the entry area linking the building with the street and the staircases. Existing façades, some of which contain asbestos, will nevertheless be removed and replaced by glazed, high performance façades, overlooking the balconies running the length of the façades.
The whole project relies on the implementation of bio-climatic principles, like the receptivity of the envelop to the penetration of sunshine for comfort in winter, and the greening of certain terraces and areas around the building.
Functional and social integration is at the heart of this project, which combines flats, professional offices and areas accessible to the public. Particular attention has been paid to the relations between the different uses and the architectural and spatial features of the two ensembles forming the podium and the building above. Imagined as a shared meeting place, the building will be largely accessible from the town.
Extensions will be added on all façades of the wings from the first to the fifth floor to emphasise the image of an open and attractive building. The attic setbacks will also create atypical flats similar to spacious villas with terraces. All the flats will have a remarkable quality of natural light and views of their surroundings. They will enjoy pleasant spaces overlooking balconies running the length of the façades, thereby offering an additional living space, which also protects façades from summer sunshine, contributes to thermal comfort, and facilitates façade upkeep. Part of the roof terraces will also be accessible to some of the flats on the building’s 1st floor.
