Métropole Rouen Normandie Headquarters, France HQ Architecture, Office Building
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie, France
New French Office Building Development design by Jacques Ferrier Architecture
Post updated 15 Aug 2020
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie in France
Design: Jacques Ferrier Architecture
Location: allée François Mitterrand, Rouen, France
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie Building
Photos © Luc Boegly
The headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie are a unique, memorable and fitting image on the banks of the Seine in Rouen.
What makes it so unique is how the new building fits in with the surrounding landscape of Rouen.
The building’s dynamic profile contrasts with the omnipresence of horizontal designs found along the major port, while its silhouette echoes the renovated industrial buildings on the right bank.
The oblique shapes are reminiscent of the silhouettes of cranes and other objects in the port and the bows of the passing ships.
The building showcases and utilises the site’s strong presence to enhance urban life on the left bank.
As an extension of the future park, the building is the figurehead of the future eco-district.
It is a contemporary metropolitan icon, but already forms part of the surroundings, much like the cathedral and the Gustave Flaubert bridge.
It blends in with the unique visual landscape of the quays and the history of the port.
Its multi-faceted, transparent architecture plays with the changing light of the Normandy sky, reflections from the water, and the colours of the climate.
The building is covered with fish-like ‘scales’ made of subtly coloured glass. Reflecting and refracting the light of the sun, the glass scales cover the building with hints of colour that are further enhanced by the reflections from the river below.
The effect is inspired by impressionist painting, and in particular Claude Monet.
The glass is covered with a layer of metal oxide creating a colourful iridescent reflection from the outside, but disappearing on the inside leaving the light in work areas unaffected. These changing colours are a contemporary interpretation of the chromatic variations in Claude Monet’s many paintings of Rouen Cathedral.
Métropole Rouen Normandie Headquarters – Building Information
Address: 108 allée François Mitterrand, 76 000 Rouen, France
Client: Métropole Rouen Normandie
Architectural Team: Jacques Ferrier Architecture – head architect
Signage, design and scenography of the hall: Studio Pauline Marchetti and Sensual City Studio
Structural engineering: C&E ingénierie
Engineering of fluids and economical construction: Sogeti
Acoustics: ACV
Program: Headquarters of the Métropole: offices, meeting, reception and exhibition spaces
Area: 8 300 m²
Cost: 25 000 000 € excl tax (year 2017)
Delivery: July 2017
Labels: Bepos & PassivHaus
Photographs © Luc Boegly
14 Sep 2018
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie is a Winner of International Architecture Awards 2018
Turkish architects award over 100 new buildings and urban planning projects from 31 nations in this year’s international architecture awards:
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie – a winner at International Architecture Awards 2018
Headquarters of Métropole Rouen Normandie images / information from Jacques Ferrier Architecture
Location: 108 allée François Mitterrand, 76 000 Rouen, France, north western Europe
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