Vertical garden to integrate the existing building and the add-on

French architecture firm, Chartier-Corbasson Architectes makes intensive use of vertical gardens to integrate their add-on with the Chamber of Commerce in Amiens. The green garden unites the historical building, the landscaping and the contemporary add-on.



Art Nouveau is connected very closely to the world of plants and flowers. So what better way of facilitating integration of a new add-on than the intensive use of a vertical garden, as architectural testimony of this style? The architecture and landscaping project of Manoir Bouctout Vagniez in Amiens, for the Chamber of Commerce is an example of this.





The architects from Chartier-Corbasson designed a new add-on comprising offices, meeting rooms and a 189-seat auditorium; the extension sits on a plinth of greenery, facilitating the connection with the existing building. The green façade looks over the back – the historical building – and insulates the building, thus improving its energy coefficient.





A different, visually striking solution is adopted on the southern street front. Here, double metal cladding allows natural ventilation and screens the interiors from direct sunlight, to create a pleasant workplace. A glass atrium provides natural lighting of the interiors, which have been separated into two sections to improve this aspect.





Despite its obvious contemporary style, the project’s intentions and design solutions are based on the same principles as Art Nouveau, in other words that connection with nature experienced as a decoration and enrichment of daily life.

Project: Chartier-Corbasson Architectes http://www.chartier-corbasson.com
Iida Tulkki, Gabriel Guthieriez architectes assistants
Location: Amiens, France
Year: 2012
Photos: Romain Meffre and Yves Marchand