Refurbishment and construction of a new building,
Saint-Serge district
An ambitious renovation/reconstruction project with landscaped gardens between a new district and the Maine riverbank
The flagship of the new Saint-Serge district, the project aims to redefine the entrance to Angers, linking the city and the river through a calming landscape. Combining renovation, new construction and landscaped gardens, it is a sustainable response to the challenges of climate change and changing working practices. The existing building, designed by Philippe Mornet in the 1970s, has been redesigned in keeping with its original architecture, with a new envelope that is light and carbon free. It retains its elegant frame, adapted to meet thermal challenges with a lightweight FOB façade. The new building has been designed with a sober, frugal approach, with a bioclimatic façade of hemp concrete and natural lime plaster, and a timber structure. Its compact and bioclimatic design features natural ventilation and thermal regulation using low-tech techniques. The two volumes interact through recessed facades: on the ground floor for the existing building and on the top floor for the new building. The two buildings have an interior layout that promotes flexibility, adaptability and comfort: cross-floor areas, natural ventilation, winter gardens, accessible roof gardens, multi-purpose and divisible spaces are all part of a long-term perspective.
In a duality of renovation and new construction, the project creates a coherent image through an overall volumetry and shared materials in a relationship of mutual enhancement: while the existing building is characterised by a concrete base set back from the upper volume, the body of the new building sits on the ground, revealing its wooden structure, with the attic set back in the opposite direction.
By promoting ecological engineering and native vegetation, the riverside garden is a resilient development, embracing risk as an element of invention, thinking about the reversibility of man-made environments and the resilience of landscapes in the face of climate change, helping to build a positive collective narrative.
Angers (49)
Alter cités
8,500 m²
AIA (multidisciplinary engineering consultant), AIA Environnement (environment), Acoustique Vivié & Associés (acoustics)
€ 16,7 M before tax
On going
Manon Dolbakian, Sébastien Chevance
Complete (architecture and landscape)
Restructured existing office building with ERP on ground floor; new office building with ERP on ground floor, landscaping
HQE B - Construction - excellent level; bio-sourced building label - level 2
ChartierDalix