The new 130,000 sqm SFR headquarters, designed by Jean-Paul Viguier, in the Landy-Pleyel ZAC (mixed development zone in Saint-Denis, France) boasts nearly 8,500 employee workstations. The official opening of the campus, of this first phase, was last February 13.

Project description by architects

The building “adopts the metaphor of the tree, which experiences continual growth and rebirth, adapting constantly to external conditions. The project takes the form of a campus, atop a trunk with protruding branches leading to terraces and large multi-level gardens.”

The principle is based on the idea of unity and union, with four main buildings presented both as a unified whole and as discrete spaces, in other words several buildings which must form a visual whole and reflect the corporate culture in detail: strong roots (the trunk) and various business units characterised by their diversity (the branches). Each element is linked horizontally for journeys promoting contact and communication.

The emphasis is placed on building the relationship with the environment: the employees’ workspace environment and the site’s specific environment for genuine contextuality in an industrial landscape; and, with a light, breathing building, the relationship with the gardens that surround the building.

Daylight is a key project component fostering pleasant working conditions and optimal energy efficiency, achieved partly by using alternate glass and metal components, with varying openings, reflection levels and densities to suit the space. The facades act like an item of clothing which changes in nature to suit the degree of exposure. Providing protection on the northern side against sound pressure from the main roads, cold and shade, the garment changes to the west and east with external blinds, glass containing aluminium for extra flexibility, and openings. To the south, facing the gardens, large horizontal overlaps protect against the sun and the partition walls directly adjoin the outer walls. Which is where the stairwells are located, facing the gardens, for permanent visual contact with the redesigned landscape. Shared services are grouped together on the ground floor for a smooth and active relationship with resource-rich common areas: several restaurants, fitness suite, squash courts, relaxation space, etc.

CREDITS

Architects.- Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés.
Team.- Andrès Larrain (Project director). Frédéric Morel (Project director). Sophie Poussange. William Burns. Victor Senarat. Christel Catteau. Léa Desbiens. Tupac Orellana. Thomas Ouanhnon. Charlotte Thiret Schlosser. Aline Hielscher. Julie Alazard. Benoist Quiviger. Interior design.- Laura Gelso (Project director). Juliette Liberman Segretain. Justine Boidin. Ivonne Amran. Landscaping.- Benjamin Doré. Arnaud Mermet-GerlatEngineering firm.- SETEC Bâtiment. Technical Studies (Facades).- EPP France. Lighting.- Seul Soleil.
Competition won in 2010. Completion date.- 2013.
Client.- SFR.
Developer.- Vinci Immobilier Promotion.
Location.- 93210 Saint-Denis, France.
Surface area.- 135,000.0 sqm.
Budget.- €300 M + Tax.
Commission.- Design and delivery, interior design and landscaping.
Certification.- QHE construction (already obtained for the design phase), BREEAM "very good" and QHE exploitation, BBC Effinergie Label, summer comfort level rule Th-E, RT 2012.

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Jean-Paul Viguier is an architect based in Paris. After graduating from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1970, he was, along with Jean Bossu and Georges-Henri Pingusson, a founder member of a study unit called Unité Pédagogique 5. In 1973, he was awarded a "Master of city planning in urban design" by the University of Harvard and, after returning to France, wrote a column on urban architecture for the Urbanisme journal. From 1975 to 1992, he collaborated on projects with Jean-François Jodry.

In 1981 and 1983, he won the jury first prize for his competition entry for the Bastille Opera House, and joint first prize for the Tête Défense project. In 1986, along with Alain Provost, Patrick Berger and Gilles Clément he won the competition to build André Citroën Park in Paris, which would take six years to complete (1986-92), and then the French pavilion at the Seville World Expo in 1992.

His agency, Jean-Paul Viguier SA d’Architecture and later Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés, Architecture et Urbanisme, is internationally renowned thanks to its headquarters for France Télévisions in Paris, Coeur Défense, the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower hotel, the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas, the first American museum of modern art to be built by a French architect.

Jean-Paul Viguier was awarded the Grand Prix by Moniteur des Villes for André Citroën Park, the Equerre d’Argent d’Architecture (distinction) for the Business Centre in Rue d’Aubervilliers in Paris' 19th arrondissement, and the Architectural Record–Business Week Award in New York for the Astra Pharmaceutical Headquarters in Rueil.

Honours:

    Knight of the French National Order of Merit.
    Officer in the French National Order of the Legion of Honour.
    Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters.
    Honorary Fellow of the A.I.A. American Institute of Architecture.
    Member of the French National High Commission for Historic Monuments - Ministry of Culture and Communication (1988-2005)
    President of AFEX (French Architects Overseas) (1997-1999)

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Published on: February 21, 2014
Cite: "SFR Headquarters by Jean-Paul Viguier Architecture" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/sfr-headquarters-jean-paul-viguier-architecture> ISSN 1139-6415
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