
BVAU - Bartolo Villemard Architecture Urbanisme addressed the typical setting of an outlying suburb in their design for the new headquarters of CFE, Caisse des Français de l'Etranger (Fund for French citizens abroad) in Rubelles. A “non-place” where there seems to be no harmonious overall design to the roads, offices, advertising billboards, parking lots and pavilions. The architects’ first problem was how to design a building that would improve its surroundings, a reflection that applies to many suburbs in the western world.
Architect Bartolo Villemard reinterprets the type of construction most commonly present in the area, “big commercial buildings”, and designs offices and workspaces that convey a sense of intimacy, uniqueness and comfort typical of a home even while preserving a compact layout.
The building is characterised above all by two types of space, offices requiring greater privacy and common areas such as the cafeteria, reception area and meeting rooms which are completely transparent to the outside, forming a continuum between the foyer and the urban landscape, a bridge between inside and outside.
(Agnese Bifulco)
Design: BVAU-Bartolo Villemard Architecture Urbanisme
Consultants: 3A Architectes Associés, TN + Paysagistes, RFR, RFR element, Avel acoustique, BETOM (TCE)
Location: Rubelles, France
Images courtesy of BVAU-Bartolo Villemard Architecture Urbanisme, photos by Clément Guillaume
www.bvau.fr