Logistic Hub
In the hostile environment of the banks of the Boulevard Périphérique, a sculptural volume in Corten steel is inserted between the concrete structures of the slip roads and the Porte Champerret bridge.
The small building houses a staircase and lift linking the street level to that of the Périphérique, providing access to a drive-in market garden counter.
This project, winner of the "Réinventer Paris 2 - Les dessous de Paris" consultation, is located on the site of a former service station on the bd Périphérique outside Porte de Champerret. The proposal, submitted by Viparis, includes two programmes: a logistics area for light vehicles to deliver Espace Champerret; and a "click & collect" counter to sell farm produce from the Paris region, distributed by "Au Bout du Champs".
The logistics area is linked to Espace Champerret by two goods lifts. It provides direct access from the Bd Périphérique for vans setting up and dismantling exhibitions, so they won't be clogging up the local streets.
The "Au Bout du Champ" counter is the public part of the programme, the only one to have an architectural element. It is intended both for motorists arriving on the Périphérique, and for local residents, who can come on foot or by bike to pick up their orders.
The counter is located at the western end of the old station, at the level of the Périphérique. The staircase and lift that allow pedestrians to reach the Comptoir are integrated into a microarchitecture that links the street level and the "below". This sculptural element, although small, is a landmark and a signal of the regeneration of the basement, invisible from the street.
With the environment currently generating a feeling of danger and insecurity, the staircase is a protective cocoon that offers, from the inside, framed views of elements of the urban landscape - the sky, the trees in the distance. It is a faceted volume clad in corten steel, a material chosen for its resistance to aggressive environments, its strength and its durability. Corten steel works well with the rough concrete of the motorway infrastructure.
The volume of the staircase is visually extended on the Périphérique facade by the corten sheet cladding of the wall between the existing concrete columns.
