Bâtiment A Confluence
Building A is located in the Confluence 2 Urban Development Zone (ZAC 2), managed by SPL Lyon Confluence in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. Based on a master plan for the ZAC produced by the firm Herzog & De Meuron, the urban planners at Atelier Ruelle then developed the individual building plots and designed the public spaces for the district. It is within this framework that the overall Sollys project, developed by Bouygues Immobilier and Linkcity, takes place. This project comprises 11 buildings across 3 blocks, coordinated by David Chipperfield Architects.
Each building is designed by one of the three architects involved in the project.
3 by the London-based firm David Chipperfield + AIA life design
3 by the Lisbon-based firm Aires Mateus + VERA & Associés
5 by the Lyon-based firm VERA&Associés, whose building A is presented here
The 11 buildings have very high thermal and energy performance, constituting a Positive Energy Territory (TEPOS), and fully meet the very demanding sustainable development specifications defined by TRIBU, the developer's project management consultant.
The building volumes are constrained by the master plan, which imposes various building types on the development zone (R+2/+4; R+5/+6; R+8/+9 and R+16). The intermediate volumes refer to those of the Sainte-Blandine district, which the Confluence extends. Building A is situated within this framework.management in a very dense urban context.
Facing the existing city, it provides a smooth transition with the new district under construction by offering a rigorous yet serene architecture. Its height preserves the sunlight reaching the older buildings opposite it on the other side of Rue Casimir Périer.
It is also strategically located at the far northern edge of the development zone. It is in direct contact with the existing city fabric and connects the different eras of the district: its past and history with the Ste Blandine district, the Perrache housing estate, and the wholesale market; its present around the existing buildings and urban developments; and its near future with upcoming projects as you move down towards the south of the peninsula.
Great attention has been paid to the orientation of the dwellings in order to combine access to sunlight for all dwellings with the management of overlooking in order to preserve the privacy of the inhabitants in a very dense urban context.
This project, implemented on the scale of a 20-unit building, explains the qualities sought in the housing options of the Confluence district and in its relationship to the urban space in which it is located.
A ground floor design that enhances the pedestrian experience and brings a welcoming atmosphere to the city
=> Creation of transparencies through the retail spaces, the lobby, and the bicycle storage area, allowing views from the street to the richly planted courtyard, multiplying the depths of field visible from the public space
=> Integration of the parking ramp into the building's volume with a high-quality architectural treatment of this often-neglected space
=> High-quality construction details at the base of the facades that anchor the building in a lasting way
=> Generous glazed surfaces on the ground floor and carefully designed joinery integrate the ground floor into the continuity of Lyon's city center
The quality of the residential experience and living spaces was central to the design
=> The entrance is through a generously sized, climate-controlled lobby
that houses mailboxes and a wide bench. The care taken in the design and choice of materials (terrazzo flooring, wood cladding) encourages residents to make it a living space, a place to meet, connect, and share.
A secure, glazed bicycle storage area extends the lobby to the garden and fully supports the growing popularity of cycling in the Lyon metropolitan area.
The lobby provides access to two vertical stairwells, whose staircases, located at the first level of natural light, are designed and finished to encourage their use.
Compact yet comfortable apartments
=> The layout, organized into two wings, offers 100% dual or triple-aspect apartments, ranging from two-bedroom to four-bedroom units, with 40% of bathrooms receiving natural light.
=> The apartment orientation ensures that each resident benefits from at least two hours of sunlight by December 21st, guaranteeing comfortable living. Bedrooms are primarily located to the north, while living areas face south or west.
=> Ample storage within the apartments meets residents' needs.
=> The apartments have a ceiling height of 2.77 meters.
=> The nine social housing units are randomly distributed throughout the building to promote social mixing with the market-rate apartments.
=> All apartments open onto large loggias designed as extensions of the living space.
=> They all benefit from storage cupboards that can be closed with sliding and folding wooden doors.
=> The wood of the vertical cladding and the floor decking brings a sense of domesticity and makes them spaces intermediate between indoors and outdoors.
=> Zipped fabric blinds increase the livability of these spaces by controlling the climate in different seasons. In summer, they protect from excessive solar gain. In transitional seasons, they increase comfort and extend the possibility of using these spaces throughout the year.
Architecturally, this building expresses its construction reality, which uses the right material in the right place.
=> The desire for simple and rigorous architecture is manifested by a gridded facade, a constructive expression, and the careful design of a repeated window. The architectural and structural principles and the materiality of the project are inseparable.
=> The apparent ordinariness sought here testifies to the desire to integrate seamlessly into the existing urban fabric.
This residential building blends into the existing environment, without any exuberance.
=> The facades are composed of load-bearing light gray prefabricated concrete elements (finely fluted concrete piers, designed to play with light, support smooth concrete lintels) and a timber-framed facade infill incorporating wooden window and door frames.
=> The roof, acting as a fifth facade, is treated with a roof covering made of photovoltaic panels, which conceal the elevator shafts and other technical equipment
