Hamonic+Masson & Associés designs undulating New'R mixed-use tower in Nantes

Hamonic+Masson & Associés won the competition to design the New'R building in Nantes back in 2013. Completed this past January, the new mixed-use building shows off rows of undulating balconies and clean lines, paying tribute to Oscar Niemeyer, 1970s French Riviera architecture (à la André Minangoy and Michel Marot’s Marina Baie des Anges), and the “hedonistic fantasy of Miami Beach!”, the architects say.

Hamonic+Masson & Associés shared more details about the project below.

“Sensual and multi-directional, the building is located at a pivotal point between the ‘Mail Picasso’ and the new neighbourhood currently being developed alongside the rail infrastructure. Framing and capturing the existing location, New’R embraces the site and forms a new landscape.”

“The building’s volume compliments the surrounding scales through its sculpted effect. The construction of intermediate landings creates a sequence within the volume and the piston-like morphology facilitates a graduated system of high-rise living. Its strategic position and impact on the site offer a range of interpretations depending on one’s proximity to the building.

A range of detail on the skyline creates variation in form and invites a number of uses of the various roof terraces. This enables neighbouring local residents to appreciate the building’s different scales from a distance whilst also providing diversity and variety for the inhabitants. The design plays on the idea of movement, backgrounds and multiplicity.”

In their proposal, the architects had to address the building's relationship to its surroundings and how it incorporates public space. “The city’s flow of pedestrians, cars and bicycles and the mixed programme (parking, retail, office space and housing) interweave and embellish the ground floor, creating a ‘pedestrian level volume,’” they describe. “The building’s transparency, depth and various perspectives engender a dynamism and liveliness around the perimeter of the project, consequently enriching the surrounding environment.”

“We have provided diversity within the collective by creating multiple exterior spaces and apartments with a range of typologies. There are forty differing typologies for 156 apartments, meaning the repetition inherently found in housing projects is offset by the tower’s uniqueness, which seeks to provide a sense of belonging and identity.”

“Plant containers are built into the balcony railings of the lower-floor apartments. These flowering baskets allow dwellers to tend aromatic plants and flowers of their choice, while the higher floors, above any obstructed views, have balconies that become large panoramic screens.”

“Two shared terraces have been designed to allow neighbours to come together; for example, a vegetable garden and a greenhouse are integrated into the 10th floor terrace. The organisation ‘Bio-T-full’ provide around thirty workshops offering residents the opportunity to participate in group activities, such as the planting and growing of crops. Furthermore, a vast solarium on the sixteenth floor allows residents to organise birthday parties, soirées and other events.”

“The intermediate height of the building carries a pedagogical virtue. Living here enables people to understand and appreciate the city that surrounds them: architecture in cinemascope.”

Project details:

Technical information
Competition winners 2013 Project completed in January 2017
Program: 156 apartments + offices + commercial + parking
Developer: Kaufman&Broad;

Project management

Architect: Hamonic+Masson & Associés (Project manager: Arnaud Grenié)
Structural engineer: BETAP
MEP engineer: ALBDO
Site management: Polytec
Urban planner: Atelier Ruelle

Surface area: 10,350m2

Construction costs: 13,5M€ excl. tax

Environmental certification: RT 2012

More project photos in the gallery below.