Regional Judicial
Police Department

The building, located in the north part of Les Batignolles urban development zone, provides workspaces that are secure and protected from the exterior, while being congenial, pleasant and well lit, despite the high-density conditions imposed by the site’s small size. Where form was concerned, the aim was to design a new symbol reflecting the standing of 36, Quai des Orfèvres, a symbol that would blend perfectly with the Judiciary Complex as a whole.

To address these issues, the building’s compact and sculptural architecture was developed on a figure-of-eight layout, thus providing the maximum possible connections between departments. The volume, with its juxtaposed contrasts, was shaped by the urban constraints and inspired by the architectural principles of the Thiers defensive wall. It defines an exterior public space and an interior space, sheltered by protective walls, onto which the workspaces open.

This indoor-outdoor duality is reprised in the treatment of the façades. The power of the mineral plinth is counterbalanced by the glass cladding of the upper levels. The many glass facets of which this is composed seem to float in space and contribute to the dematerialisation of the volume. The combination of colours, inspired by the palette of the Impressionist painter Sisley, echoes the skies over Île-de-France.