LA SHAM Lyon (France) - 2021

Contexte & enjeux

Architecture cannot be a consumer good that is thrown away when it is used or out of fashion. In a general sense, architecture cannot be an eternal work of art, nor an unchanging art. From time immemorial, people have transformed, restored, adapted, according to the needs and knowledge of their time. Architecture thus becomes timeless through permanent additions and continuous inclusions. The buildings are updated, and each time they are in line with the times.

In the north of the Part Dieu district in Lyon, a building from the 1980s requires a major renovation for a mixed programme of housing and offices. The dialogue with the existing building, its history and its geometry will highlight its own qualities for a renewed operation, a refreshed image, enriched by a resolutely contemporary contribution. The enlargement of the existing bays reconsiders the full/empty proportion to accentuate the verticality of the building. The building is also sculpted: the reconfigured angle brings a new dynamic to the volume from the monumental, entirely glazed hall, terraces are housed in indentations and a raised roof provides panoramic views, with a veritable hanging garden overlooking the city.

The architectural style diverts the vocabulary of housing and offers it to an office programme. Balconies, terraces, winter gardens and French windows bring together living and working spaces in a homogeneous building. They guarantee reversibility, and therefore sustainability.