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MIXED PROGRAMME IN PARIS CHAPELLE INTERNATIONAL - Laurent Noel - France
Mixed Programme in Paris Chapelle International - Laurent Noel - France


Two tower blocks to take Paris into a former industrial enclave marked by a long railway past. Designed for a mixed programme, these two volumes echo each other and point towards the urban planning of tomorrow through the “Chapelle International” development project.

A contemporary neighbourhood is being designed in the Porte de la Chappelle district: along with the north-east sector of Paris, it is destined to become a new gateway into the capital, at the heart of the Grand Paris project. The territory’s architectural and urban development must set an example and fulfil current and future uses without being overly discursive. The idea is to build a sense of continuity by breaking free of the features that stigmatise public housing districts and the overarching design of the railway infrastructures; to develop a sovereign architecture whose simplicity and rationality integrate the site’s existing and future forms. Guided by the rules of the urban project as defined for this territory by AUC, Atelier Martel joined forces with Swiss architect Charles Pictet and adopted the site specifications to deliver an exploratory architecture that interprets their principles while furthering their logic with clean, simple lines: forming a dialogue between the horizontal world of office blocks and the verticality of high-rise housing blocks, rotating the constructions at a 45° angle to give the façades maximum exposure to sunlight, opening up the railway landscape and the views in the distance. An architectural proposal that is generous, rational and rigorous, offering multiple uses within a tightly controlled budget.

The programme is housed in two buildings, each with a distinct architectural vocabulary. While the first, which rises 50 metres high, is composed of two stacked volumes—offices at the base surmounted by family residential apartments—the second, at 37 metres, is a visually monolithic structure that houses homes for migrants and young workers. The main building is constructed with two grids, one on top of the other, with the residential structure elegantly positioned above the ground floor at a 45° angle. This geometric rule, where the load-bearing posts of the second structure stand on the diagonal of the office block below, means two square plans can be stacked on top of each other, optimising load distribution, organisation of the programmes and the flexibility of the partition walls. The central distribution core prolongs the diagonal of the tower block down into the underground car parks. Four patios cast light into the heart of the base volume. On the fifth floor, a vast double-height loggia fills the entire space. A collective,open-air area with striking views, this extraordinary space is the setting for a permanent artistic intervention. The two tower blocks stand out due to their design and the materials used on their façades, with the shifting shades of white in the prefabricated concrete elements, the discipline and proportion in the openings, and the materiality of the woodwork and railings all echoing each other. Each of these two buildings has its own volume and aesthetic, yet they come together in a whole composed of harmonious masses and tonalities which bring a brand new unity to this urban space in transformation.


Laurent Noel

Laurent Noel

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