Barrault Pressacco

The transformation and extension project of the building located at xxx rue Hégésippe Moreau is the result of a balance between respect for the urban environment and surface constraints, spatial quality and density, urban regulations and architectural form, existing building and new architecture.
The structural measures thus define the position of the technical core of the new plan. A four-meters thick strip, which fits between the peripheral facade and the row of concrete posts, brings together all the necessary common services (vertical circulation, sanitation), and frees the levels from any constraint.
The facades of the existing building are entirely preserved, while those of the extension offer a regular and autonomous rhythm of vertical elements composed of opaque and glazed parts. These elements deliberately contrast with the existing building in red terracotta masonry and with the neighbouring buildings in massive stone.
The new architecture installs a novel vocabulary of lightness and transparency and propels the existing building into an unprecedented topicality. In the background can be seen the load-bearing wooden elements, which also reveal the constructive principle of extension. Salient technical elements shield the protective solar blinds necessary for the comfort of the offices.