Guyancourt, France
1997
Technocentre Renault
Le Gradient
On the Guyancourt Plateau, the Technocentre combines tertiary-sector and industrial buildings. Designed as a coherent urban entity, it is encircled at its fringes by a continuous ring road.
Client
Program
Area
Planning
Client
Régie Nationale des Usines Renault
Program
Design research centre, design development offices, laboratories, prototype construction centre, test benches
Area
230 000 m² on a 150 ha site
Planning
Delivery
1997
Beyond, its extensions spread out like so many urban satellites, freed from the overall framework. Embedded in the hill to the east, the new building thus occupies a place at the edge of the site. It rises gradually, following the lie of the land, its arrangement seemingly generated by the contour lines: the approach is topographical, rather than urban. The ensemble alternates patios with built spaces.
On the ground floor, open to the interior gardens, a long interior street crosses the building from one side to the other. It provides a central framework and serves, on one side, the shared spaces, and on the other, the vertical circulations and footbridges. On each level, the tertiary activity floors form an uninterrupted network of workspaces, while at the crossing between the main parts of the building, connectors provide vertical links.
Far-reaching structures free the floors of any intermediate pillars, thus providing complete freedom of choice for the interior layout. The place is designed to provide exceptional working conditions. The main circulation occurs at the centre of the floor, while along the façades a secondary route on a more human scale is better suited to social interaction.
In front of the glazing, detached from the façade by continuous gangways, blinds with wide slats provide a thicker layer. Light infiltrates, while direct sunlight is controlled. Every 3 metres, the blinds are raised or lowered, being controlled both automatically and individually.
The façades vary and the architecture is modulated according to the seasons, time of day and orientation. The material is unique; the aluminium colour is the same, but the shades vary. Greyish white or almost dark, they react to the changing sky. The sheet metal is polished, in an allusion to car culture.
On the ground floor, open to the interior gardens, a long interior street crosses the building from one side to the other. It provides a central framework and serves, on one side, the shared spaces, and on the other, the vertical circulations and footbridges. On each level, the tertiary activity floors form an uninterrupted network of workspaces, while at the crossing between the main parts of the building, connectors provide vertical links.
Far-reaching structures free the floors of any intermediate pillars, thus providing complete freedom of choice for the interior layout. The place is designed to provide exceptional working conditions. The main circulation occurs at the centre of the floor, while along the façades a secondary route on a more human scale is better suited to social interaction.
In front of the glazing, detached from the façade by continuous gangways, blinds with wide slats provide a thicker layer. Light infiltrates, while direct sunlight is controlled. Every 3 metres, the blinds are raised or lowered, being controlled both automatically and individually.
The façades vary and the architecture is modulated according to the seasons, time of day and orientation. The material is unique; the aluminium colour is the same, but the shades vary. Greyish white or almost dark, they react to the changing sky. The sheet metal is polished, in an allusion to car culture.
Air France Headquarters