Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Situated in close vicinity to Tour Montparnasse, the Vandamme mixed-use block, designed in the early 1970s, is soon renovated by the MVRDV architecture studio, which proposes an extension with the aim of reintroducing the human scale and returning the sense of place within the district of Montparnasse.

In the proposal of MVRDV each façade is opened up to light and access as much as possible and replaced by a collection of ‘boxes’ inserted into the existing structural frame, which differs in size, program, activity, colour and materials. Each box accommodates a different part of the program while being flexible with regards to future demands.

Description of project by MVRDV

Situated in close vicinity to Tour Montparnasse, the Vandamme mixed-use block, designed in the early 1970s by the French architect Pierre Dufau, was as one of the largest urban projects implemented in Paris at the time. As a design driven to prioritise automobile use, it appeared as a triangular urban island surrounded by the traffic loaded Rue Mouchotte, Avenue du Maine, Rue Vercingétorix and the rail tracks of Gare Montparnasse opposite the site.

Dufau’s design is characterized by a clearly defined horizontal plinth, interrupted only by the verticality of the slender, 30-storey tower of the Hotel Pullman. Once a landmark of the era, over time the complex has failed to adapt to the changing needs of an urban society, resulting in an introverted and self-contained block which lacks urban connectivity, discourages pedestrian activity and neglects any sense of identity.

MVRDV’s proposal aims to reintroduce the lost human scale and bring back a sense of place within the Montparnasse district: breaking the solid, horizontal volume up into fragments and making the mixed-use program inside the plinth more extroverted allows each part of the program to distinguish itself through a unique identity. Each façade is opened up to light and access as much as possible and replaced by a collection of ‘boxes’ inserted into the existing structural frame, which differs in size, program, activity, colour and materials. Each box accommodates a different part of the program while being flexible with regards to future demands.

Based on the existing structural grid, the majority of boxes are suspended from the façade revealing the wide range of functions such as bars, restaurants, shops, a library, exterior gardens, living and working spaces. Density is increased carefully while respecting the architectural language of the original design and refreshing the run down details and organisation of the block.

In order to improve accessibility and increase permeability at ground level, additional entrances are created on Avenue du Maine and Rue Mouchotte. The shopping centre is extended; the offices, which are currently stretched over the entire width of the plinth are replaced by a six-storey office block which includes accessible roof terraces creating an ‘address’ of sorts on Avenue du Maine. The public library Bibliothèque Vandamme is moved from its current underground location to the top of the plinth for improved daylight conditions and direct access to and from the station Gare Montparnasse.

A community of 62 social housing units and a 350m² kindergarten added onto the plinth between the hotel tower and the office block Le Héron while maintaining the required distance from its neighbours for light and views. Rue Vercingétorix, the southern plot boundary, will be upgraded by opening up the current back face of the building. In order to relieve on-street parking spaces, 150 extra spaces for scooters are created within the six-storey underground car park.

Read less

Rendering. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV. Image © MVRDV

Axonometric, existing. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Axonometric, Project. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Axonometric, Program 1, existing. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Axonometric, Program 2, project. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Axonometric, Program 3, certifications. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

Axonometric. Gaîté Montparnasse by MVRDV

View more images

Metalocus recommends

Unplanned domestic prototype by Ismael Medina Manzano. Photograph by Hiperfocal

Challenging traditional standardized spaces. Unplanned domestic prototype by Ismael Medina Manzano

Skogsnaret - Ski Hageby by R21 Arkitekter. Photograph by Mariela Apollonio

Sew the existing weft. Skogsnaret - Ski Hageby by R21 Arkitekter

Student residence in Cergy by graal. Photograph by Giaime Meloni

Find the essence to connect. Student residence Cergy Pontoise by graal

More information

Label

Architects

Text

MVRDV (Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries)

Label

Design Team

Text

Concept.- Wini Maas, Frans de Witte, Bertrand Schippan with Michael Labory, Catherine Drieux, Pierre des Courtis, Antoine Muller, Mikel Vazquez, Jonathan Schuster, Nicolas Bouby, Arjen Ketting, Jaap Baselmans, Pilar Zorraquin, Jill Pichon, John tsang and David Jimenez Moreno. Development.- Winy Maas, Frans de Witte with Michael Labory, Pierre des Courtis, Catherine Drieux, Andrea Anselmo, Solène de Bouteiller, Antoine Muller, Séverine Bogers, Daniele Zonta, Paul Sanders, Diana Palade, Mikel Vazquez Alvarez, Francis Liesting, Boris Tikvarski, John Pantzar, Stephan Boon, Clémentine Bory, Quentin Rihoux and Louis Laulanné.

Label

Partners

Text

Co-Architec.- SRA Architectes, Chatillon, France. Interior Designer Hotel.- CUT, Paris, France. Interior Designer Commercial Center.- Saguez, Saint-Ouen, France. Construction Pilot.- Egis, Montreuil, france. Engineer.- SCYNA4, Ivry-sur-Seine, France. MEP Engineers.- LAFI + INEX, Vaulx-en-Velin, France. Economist.- Vanguard, Paris, France. Façade Engineer.- Arcora, Rueil-Malmaison, France (formerly RFR). Acoustic Engineers.- LASA, Paris, France. Fire Safety Consultant.- BATISS, Ivry-sur-Seine, France (formerly Nicolas Mayeur & Francoise Follaci). Environmental Consultant.- Artelia, Paris, France.

Label

Program

Text

108,000 m² transformation including new façade, internal restructuring and extension of mixed-use block with a hotel, offices, commercial spaces, a library, 62 social housing and a 350 m² kindergarten.

Label

Client

Text

Unibail-Rodamco, France

Label

Dates

Text

Year.- 2008+

Año.- 2008+

Label

Visualization

Text

Antonio Luca Coco, Paolo Idra Mossa and Tomaso Maria Maschietti

Label

Sustainability

Text

Commercial Center.- BREEAM Excellent. Hotel.- HQE Rénovation. Offices.- HQE Excellent, BREEAM Excellent. Library.- HQE. Kindergarten.- HQE, Plan climat Paris. Housing.- H&E, profil A – Option Performance, Plan climat Paris. Main tenants.- Pullman (4* Hotel), Darty, Go Sport (Commercial center)

Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries. MVRDV

MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The practice engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A highly collaborative, research-based design method involves clients, stakeholders and experts from a wide range of fields from early on in the creative process. The results are exemplary, outspoken projects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

The products of MVRDV’s unique approach to design vary, ranging from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; the Unterföhring office campus near Munich; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam; the Ypenburg housing and urban plan in The Hague; the Didden Village rooftop housing extension in Rotterdam; the music centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven; the Gyre boutique shopping center in Tokyo; a public library in Spijkenisse; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

Current projects include a variety of housing projects in the Netherlands, France, China, India, and other countries; a community centre in Copenhagen and a cultural complex in Roskilde, Denmark, a public art depot in Rotterdam, the transformation of a mixed use building in central Paris, an office complex in Shanghai, and a commercial centre in Beijing, and the renovation of an office building in Hong Kong. MVRDV is also working on large scale urban masterplans in Bordeaux and Caen, France and the masterplan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain. Larger scale visions for the future of greater Paris, greater Oslo, and the doubling in size of the Dutch new town Almere are also in development.

MVRDV first published a manifesto of its work and ideas in FARMAX (1998), followed by MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007), and more recently The Vertical Village (with The Why Factory, 2012) and the firm’s first monograph of built works MVRDV Buildings (2013). MVRDV deals with issues ranging from global sustainability in large scale studies such as Pig City, to small, pragmatic architectural solutions for devastated areas such as New Orleans.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published worldwide and has received numerous international awards. One hundred architects, designers and urbanists develop projects in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative design process which involves rigorous technical and creative investigation. MVRDV works with BIM and has official in-house BREEAM and LEED assessors.

Together with Delft University of Technology, MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing an agenda for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.