IDOM's design for the new headquarters of AGUR, a company specializing in water distribution, is located in the new ZAC Melville Lynch in Anglet, a coastal area in the south of France, belonging to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. The setting is a wild forest covering a large hill with a stream at its foot.

The fusion of man and nature was taken into account, preserving the latter by allowing both its passage to the interior and its contemplation by the user through the disappearance of the window and resting it on the perimeter furniture, thus the window disappears into the landscape.
The headquarters designed by IDOM is organized in three volumes and four levels: a transparent plinth, a three-level building body for the work areas and an accessible terrace, all with a central volume that houses the communications and facilities.

The transparent plinth, on the ground floor, serves as public access to the building, so its spaces are organized freely and flexibly around the central core. The central volume is organized by free work spaces and some independent offices with glass partitions. Finally, the terrace is designed as a rest area for employees and for events with clients.

The exterior envelope, composed of vertical slats, reduces direct sunlight and energy costs, while allowing views from both directions. Low energy consumption is achieved through passive strategies and reduced sunlight, and rainwater is reused to supply the toilets, the indoor fountain and the irrigation system.


AGUR company new headquarters by IDOM. Photograph by Maïté Pharisier.
 

Description of project by IDOM

The new headquarter building of AGUR, a water distribution company, is located in the ZAC Melville Lynch area of Anglet, France.  The setting is exceptional: a wild forest extends over a large hill, at the foot of which is a stream that adds to beauty of the landscape.  

Preserving this natural environment is our main concern; the fusion of man and nature is at the center of our thinking: the skin of the building is designed so that both it and nature interact in harmony, allowing the natural environment to slip into the interior, to be contemplated by the user. With this in mind, the strategy is to make the window disappear. The furniture of the workplace, the "cell" of the project, and the sill of the perimeter window, form a single element, at the same height. The large windows rest on the perimeter furniture and is crowned by a dropped ceiling made of wooden slats that extend towards the exterior eaves: the forest becomes omnipresent through the wood of the ceiling and the window disappears into the landscape.

The outer envelope, designed as a transparent veil, constitutes the double skin of the building. Composed of vertical slats, it reduces direct sunlight and energy costs, while guaranteeing visual permeability in both directions. This double skin, stained in the tones of tree bark, is conceived as a permeable veil that reproduces the tones of the wild forest.


AGUR company new headquarters by IDOM. Photograph by Federico Pardos.

The workstations, like cells, are organized around a central core dedicated to vertical circulation and services, in order to free up the facades and preserve the panoramic views of nature.

The headquarter building, with a surface area of 2,400 m², is organized in three volumes and four levels: a transparent plinth, the main three-level building for work areas and an accessible terrace. In the center is a green volume with a natural finish that houses and hides the machine rooms, the staircase, the elevator and the toilets.

The plinth, on the ground floor, is deliberately glazed, transparent, for public use, permeable, but at the same time discreet. The water, which caresses the glazing, establishes a dialogue with the dominant and surrounding nature. At night, a beam of light emanates from the interior, illuminating the surroundings and reaffirming the presence of the building. The ground floor is the public access area of the building, with a lobby, the reception, a coworking area and the multifunctional room. These spaces are organized in a free and flexible way around the central core covered with large wooden tiles: a core that spread across all the floors and simulates a gigantic trunk, the central support of the building, like a large tree. From the interior, towards the south, the views open towards the esplanade of a lawn stripped of any vegetation to highlight the background of the stage: the forest.


AGUR company new headquarters by IDOM. Photograph by Federico Pardos.

The main volume of the three office floors that rests on the transparent plinth of the ground floor, levitates above and gives the building its lightness. This lightness is increased by the reflection of the water that embraces the building towards the public road. The raised floors are organized with open workspaces and some independent offices with glass partitions. The hyper-vision room is located on the first floor, dominated by a large synoptic panel for real-time data management of the customer drinking water distribution network: the nerve center of AGUR.

Finally, the roof terrace is designed as a rest area for employees and for events with clients. A wave-shaped volume houses the staircase, the elevator and the machine room, thereby freeing up the resulting space for the terrace and improving the architectural image. This wave is lined with artificial turf and is accessible for panoramic views of the extraordinary surrounding landscape.

The building is aligned along the road with a blanket of grass on the opposite side while, enhancing the spectacular wooded background. The finish of the large esplanade is designed to prioritize pedestrians and increase landscape quality, although its use is intended for vehicle parking.

The energy consumption of the new headquarter building is low, thanks to passive strategies and the reduction of sunlight, while also being respectful of the environment. With this approach, water, the core of Agur's activity, is given the value it deserves. Rainwater is reused to supply the toilets, the indoor fountain and the irrigation system. Water, nature and light in perfect symbiosis for the well-being of users.

More information

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Architects
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IDOM. Lead architect.- Federico Pardos.
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Proyect team
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Alejandro López.
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Collaborators
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Project Management.- Federico Pardos.
Costs.- Sonia Lisbona, Luis Mingarro.
Environmental Engineering.- Pedro Ibarra, Jorge Ruiz, Lucas Legay.
Lighting.- Purificación García, Lucas Legay, Aristide (Light In Shop).
Public Health Services.- Pedro Ibarra, Lucas Legay.
Electrical Engineering.- Purificación García, Lucas Legay.
Telecommunications.- Diana López.
Graphic Design.- Fabio.
CAD.- Alejandro López, Ana Melús.
Administration.- Dolores Pérez Brito.
Site Supervision.- Federico Pardos.
Construction execution management.- Federico Pardos, Cabinet Forgeard (OPC).
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Builder
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Etchart Construcción, Etchart Energies.
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Area
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2,403 m².
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Dates
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Design date.- 2017-2019.
Execution date.- 2020-2022.
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Location
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Anglet, France.
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Budget
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€ 7.545.641.
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Manufacturers
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Exterior urbanization.- SOUBESTRE.
Civil works.- ETCHART CONSTRUCTION.
Structure, louvred envelope, locksmithing.- DL PYRENEES.
Waterproofing.- GMT.
Exterior carpentry.- LABASTERE.
Movable partition wall.- ALGAFLEX.
Interior partition walls.- GOYTY.
Wooden carpentry and joinery.- GAILLARD.
Ceramic and resin coatings.- AQUISOL.
PVC coverings.- LINO TAPIS.
False ceilings.- ATRIUM.
Waterproofing waterproofing.- ETANDEX.
Paints.- SOPEGA2.
Self-leveling mortars.- MOGABURE.
Plumbing, sanitation, air conditioning, ventilation.- ETCHART ENERGIES.
Underground networks.- NEORESEAUX.
Elevator.- OTIS.
Interior blinds.- STORADOUR.
Synthetic grass.- NORCESPED.
Indoor fountain.- BOUSQUET.
Fixed furniture.- ENTSIA.
Green wall.- GREENMOOD.
Stainless steel cladding.- INOX PYRENEES.
Wood and wool core cladding.- LANDART.
Doors and handrails.- LCM.
Furniture for private areas.- PAGO 64.
Landscaping and gardening.- FLORECITA.
Fire protection, thermal-acoustic insulation.- PROSECO.
Signage.- KALICO ENSEIGNES.
Hospitality equipment.- LABRUQUERE.
Facade panels.- Rockpanel natural.
Glass partitions.- BOLMIN, model BM80-BAB.
Doors of partitions.- POLYREY.
Ceramic water sheet.- CASALGRANDE PADANA BLACK ARCHITECTURE60x120.
False ceilings of textile slats first floor.- Hunter Douglas, Baffles Heartfelt type 40HB200.
False wooden ceilings.- Hunter Douglas, Système SolidWood, Linear Ceiling, PINO EUROPEO.
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Photography
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Federico Pardos Auber (Barcelona, ​​1970). Architect by the architecture school of Paris-La-Seine, outstanding cum-laude in the final project. Award-winning architect at the Aga Khan awards 2019 (Kazan, Tatarstan, September 2019), at the XIV Spanish Architecture and Urban Development Biennial 2018 (Santander, July 2018), at the 2018 World Architectural News Awards (London, November 2018) and at the LEAF Awards 2018 (Frankfurt, November 2018) for the work of the new classroom for Bambey University in Senegal, promoted by the Ministry of Higher Education and funded by the World Bank.

He joined IDOM in 2000 as a project manager, since 2010 he is Partner Architect and is currently the director of IDOM SENEGAL. As project manager, among his most outstanding works are:

New classrooms for the universities of Bambey and Saint Louis in Senegal, financed by the World Bank and promoted by the Ministry of Higher Education of Senegal. Project, management and construction management of Diamniadio digital technology park, in Dakar (Senegal), over an area of ​​25 Ha, which includes a Tier III data center, offices, incubators and services, as well as urban and landscape planning, financed by the African Development Bank and promoted by the Ministry of Telecommunications of Senegal. Brazzaville Technology Park, in the Republic of Congo, financed by AfdB; the project of a new 500-room, four-star hotel in Pointe Sarène, Senegal, for the RIU hotel chain. New headquarters for Certest R&D laboratories in San Mateo de Gállego (Zaragoza) that includes ISO5 cleanrooms and biosafety laboratories. Project of the new water company headquarters "AGUR" in Anglet, France. Renovation and rehabilitation of buildings of the European Parliament of Strasbourg. Director of the Zaragoza pavilion project at Expo Shanghai 2010. Technical consultancy for the evaluation of a project to regroup the UN delegations in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a new location. Reconstruction work management of the Zaragoza 2008 international exhibition site in new urbanization and underground parking for 2,500 spaces.

In collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects he has been responsible for the drafting of the interior architecture project of the Bridge Pavilion of Expo 2008 and later for the reconversion studies in museum space. He has participated in conferences in different professional forums and his work has been published in several specialized magazines.

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Published on: December 9, 2023
Cite: "A window into the forest. AGUR company new headquarters by IDOM" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/a-window-forest-agur-company-new-headquarters-idom> ISSN 1139-6415
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