Neighbouring the AZF plant, the Langlade site (9.5 ha) was devastated by the explosion that occurred in September 2001. The subject of the competition is the reconstruction of the operating and maintenance centre: a 15 000 square metres workshop associated with a bus parking area comprising 300 places, 5 000 m² of offices and communal areas and a parking area with 350 places.
Intentions
The geographical situation and the recent history of the site mean that particular attention has to be paid to the founding elements of the project and its implementation. In the landscape comprising this city entrance few constructed elements subsist on which the new building can be established. The project therefore involves investing a vacant site and profoundly renewing its image. The bus operating and maintenance centre will be a pioneering building in the urban “re-conquest” of the sector and therefore it is important that it is in keeping with a strong overall image.
The organisation of the centre is based on its activity and the spatial dispositions that back up against the structuring elements of the landscape, namely the road and rail infrastructures.
Modernity and environment
Modernity is expressed through:
– the overall cohesion: the centre is a building that groups together the different functional entities in unitary form, without segregating them,
– uniting, around the buses themselves, the extra services necessary for the operation of the network. More than a juxtaposition of independent functions, in this case it means bringing into relation a succession of different spaces.
– perfect operating intelligibility due to a very simple organisation and by highlighting the liaisons that link together the different parts,
– installing the user at the centre of the lay out. The exterior spaces are designed as contained spaces and the buildings are fractionated by exterior spaces so as to recreate a human scale and optimise pedestrian thoroughfares.
– taking into account the lay out of the sector as a whole and focusing in particular on the “collective” occupation of the territory.
The environmental quality of the project is reflected in:
– a choice of installation in keeping with the environmental characteristics of the site,
– taking into account the landscaping potential of the sector,
– a choice of suitable techniques and materials and favouring passive solutions.