OXO Architectes wins two Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris competitions

Paris-based firm OXO Architectes just scored two major competition wins in their hometown's greater metropolitan area as part of the Inventons la Métropole du Grand Paris initiative: ECOTONE, a mix-used project, and Balcon sur Paris, an ambitious urban planning concept on the Marne Europe – Villiers-sur-Marne site which is comprised of 10 buildings by well know collaborating architects, like Kengo Kuma & Associates, Stefano Boeri Architett, XTU Architects, James Corner Field Operations, and others.

Here are the two winning proposals in a little more detail:

ECOTONE

Location: Arcueil, France
Client: Compagnie de Phalsbourg, Codeurs et compagnie Hertel Investissement, Engie Avenue
Architects: OXO Architectes, Duncan Lewis - Scape Architecture, Parc Architectes, Triptyque Architecture
Program: Office, Retail, Hotel, Kindergarden, Students Research Housing
Size: 81 870 m²
Construction delivery: 2023

"Realized as a collaboration between Compagnie de Phalsbourg, ENGIE, Hertel and Codeurs et Compagnie and the architects OXO Architectes, Duncan Lewis - Scape Architecture, Parc Architectes, Triptyque Architecture and the landscape architect Atelier Georges, our proposal captivated the jury for its innovative approach."

"ECOTONE will accommodate 82 000m² of mixed-use program that blends offices, retail, restaurants, health, sport facilities, hotel and residencies. Biomimicry and biodiversity are the central approaches of the project oriented towards shaping an environment for its future users based on innovative technologies. These elements are reflected in all aspects of the architectural conception and in the inhabited double skin imagined by the team of architects and landscape architectural firm."

"The human being is the focus of the project, the program including a health center realized in partnership with Ipsos Santé and Fédération Française des Art-thérapeutes and several sport facilities: a Concept Sport and a fitness center. The project addresses to different age generations by providing a residency for researches and young professionals, a kindergarten Crèche Attitude, along with several innovating concepts developed by the associations Petits-Fils and Génération Kfé."

"The biodiversity exposure of the site will be accentuated by different actions developed by the National Museum of Natural History, CEEBIOS, ELAN and of the lab CRIGEN d’ENGIE. The ecological aspect will be supported by rich and diverse fauna and flora and by organizing workshops of information to raise awareness on the ecological issues."

"Nature has always been the catalyst of our design approach. Our aspiration was to imagine a building that embodies and enhances its natural environment. Thus, we proposed to accentuate the figure of the valley on the flanks of the hill by extending the existing park. Therefore Ecotone becomes more than a built element, but an extension of the landscape, a sort of inhabited landscape."

BALCON SUR PARIS

Location: Villiers-sur-Marne, France
Client: Compagnie de Phalsbourg, Codeurs et compagnie, Emerige
Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates, OXO Architectes, XTU Architects, Stefano Boeri Architetti, Michael Green Architecture, Koz Architectes
Program: Housing, Offices, Retail, Cinema, Hotels, Congress Center
Size: 126 000 m²
Construction Delivery: 2022-2024

"Carried out as a collaboration between La Compagnie de Phalsbourg, Coder et Compagnie and Emerige and the architects Kengo Kuma & Associates, OXO Architectes, XTU Architects, Stefano Boeri Architetti, Michael Green Architecture and Koz Architectes together with the landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and Atelier Paul Arene, our proposal captivated the jury for its innovative approach on the site Marne Europe – Villiers-sur-Marne. The project Balcon sur Paris will represent the first high-density and high-rise project in wood constructed in Europe. Sixty percent of the project will be realized in wood, this including also the timber high-rise buildings."

"The project Balcon sur Paris is composed of 10 buildings staggered around Jardin Métropolitain, devised between the Congress Centre and the new train station of Grand Paris Express (Bry-Villiers-Champigny on the line 15 South). With regard to the program, the area of 126 000m² will accommodate a mixed-use that blends 670 residencies, offices, retail, two hotels, a multiplex cinema and a Congress Centre for more than 2000 places."

"Planted terraces are interspersed among living and working spaces creating unique livable places with outstanding views over the landscape. The buildings are articulated by passerelles, which facilitate communication and movement and by an active ground level. All this, Balcon sur Paris becomes will become a landmark as well as a connector at the scale of the Metropole Grand Paris."

"This new insertion aspires to offer a seductive, pleasant, innovative and effervescent mixed-use where all the functions of everyday life blend in harmony: living, working, sharing, exchanging and experimenting. With the creation of Grand Paris railway station and RER interconnection, which will welcome 55 000 visitors on a daily basis, Balcon sur Paris, a genuine metropolitan hub between Paris and Marne-la-Vallée and the airports of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulles and Orly, enjoys an exceptional location in the Greater Paris.
Within the team, Oxo Architectes will lead the design of «Le Potager de Villiers» and «Business Home» buildings."

"Le Potager de Villiers 

The building complex is composed of 3 residential buildings on a continuous transparent base that accommodates commerce and an underground parking. The market is innovating on one hand by its interior design, large windows that bring natural light and increase the visibility and interaction with the park Jardin Métropolitan. On the other hand, its rooftop becomes a place for developing urban agriculture. Thus, it is created a very effective cycle between production and commercialization in the market and the panorama restaurant."

"Business Home 

The building is situated in the north part of the Marne Europe complex facing the Congress Center Est Parisien. It is composed of a superposition of layers destined for living or working. The ground floor accommodates a restaurant for the enterprises during lunch time and for the neighborhood during evenings, widely open to the Jardin Métropolitan, this natural element stimulates activities on its terraces.
On top of this planted base, there are the two volumes, one accommodating offices and the other residences. The timber structure draws the rhythm of the facades at the ground floor and the office building. This created rhythm accompanies people who cross the site from East to West between the Boulevard and Jardin Métropolitan, between Altival and Palais des Congrès. An exterior vegetal skin is created by cables hang on balconies and vegetation pots. This skin becomes a natural filter for all the apartments in the building."

All images courtesy of OXO Architectes.