Roissy, France
1995
Air France Headquarters
Opposite the taxiways, on a trapezoidal piece of land, Air France’s head office extends so far as to practically occupy the entire site. Without any hint of crowding or clutter, its various buildings are arranged around gardens. From the forecourt, the eye travels across three successive glazed volumes, glass towers whose transparency reveals the site’s full depth.
Client
Program
Area
Planning
Client
Air France
Program
Offices, conference rooms, training rooms for the flight crews, restaurants.
Area
170 000 m²
Planning
Delivery
1995
A precise, scalable grid in which each new element is linked to the previous one and is adapted according to the site. Above all, an urban grid, which, by virtue of its variations in scale and height, accommodates the individual within a larger-scale setting.
Opposite the runways, visible from the departure lounges of Roissy 2, Air France’s head office avoids ostentation and favours dynamism and longevity: a long white façade which rises, floor by floor, in a take-off dynamic mirroring that of the aircraft. And because the airport’s departure point and the airline’s home base share the same site, the evocation of travel contributed by the bamboo gardens is answered by the evocation of an internal world, that of the airline. On the side with patios the façades are a cosy red ochre. A gallery runs across the building, alongside the gardens, and irrigates the various buildings: floors covered with wood or fitted carpets adopt the warm tone of the façades to create a warm ambiance and a real interiority. Teeming with people during business hours, it serves the health club, travel agency and restaurant.
A building on a sweeping scale, Air France’s head office is a built response to complex questions, which borrows from various fields: life in the workplace, the brand image of a prestigious airline, the constraints of a noisy site, and also the poetic evocation of the ballet of aircraft constantly taking off and landing.
Opposite the runways, visible from the departure lounges of Roissy 2, Air France’s head office avoids ostentation and favours dynamism and longevity: a long white façade which rises, floor by floor, in a take-off dynamic mirroring that of the aircraft. And because the airport’s departure point and the airline’s home base share the same site, the evocation of travel contributed by the bamboo gardens is answered by the evocation of an internal world, that of the airline. On the side with patios the façades are a cosy red ochre. A gallery runs across the building, alongside the gardens, and irrigates the various buildings: floors covered with wood or fitted carpets adopt the warm tone of the façades to create a warm ambiance and a real interiority. Teeming with people during business hours, it serves the health club, travel agency and restaurant.
A building on a sweeping scale, Air France’s head office is a built response to complex questions, which borrows from various fields: life in the workplace, the brand image of a prestigious airline, the constraints of a noisy site, and also the poetic evocation of the ballet of aircraft constantly taking off and landing.
Leonardo Da Vinci
University Centre
University Centre