InDéfense & Hôtel OKKO / 3XN + SRA Architectes
- Area:
16,000 m²
Year :
2022
-
Principal Architects:
3XN Architects
Text description provided by the architects. In a single structure of 16,000 square meters, the building combines a mixed program open to the city. Within the office building and hotel, collaborative spaces and a wide variety of food options are available to users, while food venues open to the public participate in the animation of the street and the neighborhood on the ground floor.
The project’s two programmatic elements, a hotel and an office building are separated, but along their east-west axis. Where Hôtel OKKO, clad in semi-reflective aluminum panels, remains an uninterrupted mass, the InDéfense office building is divided and shifted into smaller masses, each pushed in or pushed out to open up the long and narrow site to its surroundings and add depth to the facade to give
A sheltered agora, used as a bicycle parking space on the ground level, connects the two buildings and is characterized by a spiral staircase. A mural, visible from the street, will be installed on the side wall of that space with the goal of encouraging curiosity and bringing art to the city.
Distinctive facades. Together, the facade’s angular and tinted aluminum cassettes give it an almost lenticular quality, appearing vitreous transparent or colorfully metallic, depending on the viewer’s perspective, the time of day and even the season. Within the context, the reflective facade of the Hôtel OKKO stands out from the context and gives the program its own identity, while the distinctive bronze-toned facade of the InDéfense building brings warmth and atmosphere to the neighborhood.
Stairs connect more than floors. The building is organized around an interior spiral staircase located within an atrium along the fully glazed north facade. Those stairs are designed to encourage interaction, communication and knowledge sharing between colleagues sitting across the building’s floors. Descending at each level alongside the lift lobby, the staircase requires passing through the floor’s shared landing – facilitating opportunities for interaction between colleagues separated across floors.
Social spaces are distributed throughout the building, in indoor terraces within the atrium and outdoor terraces that crown the building’s expressed exterior volumes. Certain outdoor terraces are connected vertically by another outdoor spiral staircase that allows visitors to climb up to the roof and enjoy panoramic views over La Défense and out to Paris.
The facades of the office building are designed with openings for ventilation cuts integrated within the opaque cassettes (through a perforated side panel) to offer a “clean” design of solid panels and large glass panels with no visible frames. The checkerboard composition of the facade contributes to thermal regulation and creates a light and shadow effect in the working spaces, reinforced by the «Californian» blinds, which allow users to adjust the occultation and recall the facades’ architectural style.
Between the boulevard de La Défense and the railway, the structure and the facades of the buildings are designed with a high level of performance in terms of vibrations and acoustic performance.
The facade of the InDéfense building is a dynamic game of push and pull, the extruded/heaving volumes create shaded overhangs or spacious daylit terraces. These planted outdoor spaces, in addition to providing spatial variety, incorporate both contextual and perceptual biophilic qualities – qualities that have been shown to have positive effects on workplace productivity and well-being. The terraces spread over different levels, the interior stairwell and its galleries as well as the two exterior staircases make InDéfense a lively building that opens to the city, allowing everyone to see the effervescence created by its users.
Hotel OKKO. Hôtel OKKO, located on the western part of the site, houses 184 rooms over nine floors. On the ground floor, a restaurant is accessible to hotel customers, the neighborhood and to employees of the surrounding offices to create an active and busy street scene. The first floor is occupied with shared facilities, including a 300 sq m lounge and a dedicated terrace for hotel guests to use at any time during their stay. The interior of the hotel was designed by Studio Catoir.
