Valode & Pistre Architectes

The new stations on the Grand Paris Express network are green shoots of urban development, business catalysts, and multimodal transport hubs. Vert de Maisons station opens out onto an enlarged square surrounded by shops. Above it stands a new tertiary building, and it is connected to the RER C suburban train line.
All the Grand Paris stations respond to the same architectural specifications, which ensures coherence across the network. The architects of the various stations along each line also coordinated their work. However each station has its own personality.
The design of the Vert de Maisons station was determined by the fact that it belongs both to the Grand Paris network and to the specific world of the town in which it is located (Maison Alfort).

ABC comes from R&D programs that have been running for more than eight years by Bouygues Construction and Valode & Pistre.

A for Autonomous. ABC aims at autonomy in energy, water and the optimization of waste management. By combining production of renewable energies, storage of energy and better control of consumption, ABC offers an alternative notion of thinking and dwelling, an approach that is very well integrated into the natural environment from which it draws the resources necessary for its operation.
B for Building. ABC innovates by the constructive processes implemented. Objective: economic optimization of projects, by integrating processes of standardization to build faster while maintaining a very high level of quality.
C for Citizen. Beyond a purely technical approach, an essential stake of ABC resides in the association of the inhabitants throughout the process with a view to their appropriation of the specificities and innovations of the project. ABC puts the inhabitant at the heart of the work, in order to meet its current expectations and the evolutions of society: shared use of equipment, information and control system, modularity of certain spaces.

The new MCO (medical-surgical-obstetrics) building, the key element in the restructuring of the Gonesse hospital campus, is designed like a residential building set in a park. Its functional principle lies in a distinction between consultation and patient housing (70% panoramic), the latter facing the park and the medico-technical areas facing towards the rear. A central axis gathers all traffic and links the two zones. The architecture stands out opposite the park by its form resembling pavilions that marry white polished concrete and wood-toned blinds in a strict, measured design that evokes Japanese palaces, with their serenity and relation to nature.

The coastal city of Yingkou, in northeast China, is developing a new district devoted to culture with the aim of giving the city a regional influence. The library, which is the iconic feature for the entire project, will be the first development. The complex project, which brings together the archives and the library, as well as governmentarchives, is unified in a building with light and dynamic shapes. The contemporary idea of “the cloud” is the conceptual basis for the project. The use of natural ventilation, shading and light wells for natural lighting also make it an environmentally-conscious project. With a total surface area of 60,000 m2, the library will be the city's first landmark building and kicks off the architectural development of the surrounding public spaces. The library will be open to the public in 2014.

The Rives de l’Orne project is characterized by a great diversity of programmatic entities. Shops, offices, entertainment facilities, residential units, and a hotel, are all unified within a singular urban vision. The project creates of a new urban district at the scale of the city and responds to this challenge by providing a comprehensive vision of the new urban quarter while striking the proper balance of programmatic components. The project design provides for a strong individual identity for the new quarter, while maintaining a strong synergy with the Caen city center and river landscape. The architectural vocabulary of the project corresponds to the modern and dynamic character of the new urban district, with abundant glazed facades creating a contemporary feel. Locally quarried stone, Pierre de Caen, whose quarries have just been recently reactivated, complements the glazed facades.  The project boldly assumes it’s role as a developmental corner stone and economic motor for future development of the Orne riverfront. The presence of the river and it’s corresponding views are thoughtfully exploited, with each change in viewpoint considered and materialized in the project massing and organization. The presence of water gives the project its sense of place, open, generous, comforting, carried by the maritime breeze.

Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning province in Manchuria, China. It now has a population of over seven million people. It is an ancient city where evidence of farming can be traced back to 5,200 BC. The city’s main monument is the ancient Forbidden City of the Qing emperors. In the framework of the extension scheme for the city, Shenyang has decided to create a huge culturaland administrative hub comprising a library, an art museum, a museum of science and technology, and the archives of Liaoning Province. The programme, gigantic in scale, covers a total of 400,000 sq. m. on a plot measuring one million sq.m.

The overall principle we have proposed involves creating a huge public square flanked on either side by two pairs of tall buildings. . These buildings, which are aligned, highlight the empty space of the squaEach of the four buildings accommodates a particular functional aspect of the overall programme. They form monumental landmarks in the urban landscape, and fulfil the aim of disseminating culture among the local population.re whose scale is comparable to that of Tian'anmen Square.

The planned residential tower is located in the Marina Area in Beirut, facing the sea. Framed by other towers, it stands out from its neighbors with its spectacular silhouette made up of a superimposition of undulating volumes that echo the perpetual movement of the sea. The rigorous layout of the apartments – organized on an orthogonal grid – is in contrast with the freedom of the building’s envelope, whose form fluctuates at each new level to provide better access to the panoramic view of the Mediterranean. The tower features apartments on a single level, duplexes, and triplexes, as well as a pool in its highest level.

Today in a state of urban decay, the Epinay-sur-Seine town center is the target of a profound urban renovation program. The reconstruction of the existing shopping center is an opportunity to make it the primary retail heart of the city. The new project segments the shopping center into three clearly defined city blocks and creates two open streets that intersect at a central square. The streets are covered and shaded by a forest of allegorical trees, a memorable and playful image. The trees emerging from the center are the shopping center’s emblem and illustrate the project’s environmental ambitions.

This museum project is to be the first completed structure of the future city of Guan. The project aims to explain the layout of the city under construction. It highlights the urban dimension and the ecological and cultural diversity of this new city. Comprised of the thematic exhibition spaces and service offices, the project is organized as a collection of 9 cubes combined to form a single architectural object. Floating atop a large reflecting pool, it is accessible by a bridge, as a "treasure" placed in the middle of the lake.  The buildings image reflected, multiplies its geometric composition. The cubic structure is broken down systematically. Modules of glass and stone, 2m x 2m, are assembled to compose larger 16m x 16m square modules. The facade of the cube entrance is fully glazed like a lantern that lights up the night. The facade becomes increasingly opaque as one moves away from the entrance. The stones are of two colors playing with glass panels to form a pixelated facade, both random and progressively organized. This carefully orchestrated composition of elements of various sizes talks about the complexity and overlapping scales of the city.

The renovation of this notable tower, the first built at La Défense by engineer Jean Prouvé and architects De Mailly and Depussé, encompassed both the restoration of the many inventions presented in this architectural precursor and its introduction into the contemporary world via a reformulation of its interior spaces, with light as the principal material. Inside, a universe of light brings the tower into line with contemporary sensibilities, without creating stylistic intrusions on the work of the original architects, luminous ceilings, opalescent walls, dematerialization of opaque surfaces using planes of colored light, etc. In the evening, with the rows of lights set along the border of each floor slab and the central core, like a heart of light, the tower proclaims its renewal and its unique presence among the chorus of towers at La Défense.

With a projected population of 350,000 in 20 years within its 16,000,000 sq. m., the new city of Akademia south of Ekaterinburg, in the Ural region, corresponds to the economic renewal of this region of Russia. Located on a 1,200-hectare plain traversed by the Patrushikha river and bordered by two vast natural forests, the city of Akademia is conceived of as a place of equilibrium between nature and the urban world. The plan of the city is based on alternating canals and reconstituted strips of forest linking the existing forests. In the center, a 20-hectare park – a place for relaxation and socializing – forms the heart of the city, along with the business center, commercial and cultural facilities, and luxury residential towers. The residential quarters are designed to guarantee a mixture of socio-economic levels and varied density in order to provide a great diversity of urban spaces and genuine quality of life. The careful distribution of facilities such as shops and schools facilitates travel on foot or by bicycle. The creation of a rapid-transport system on a dedicated site between the center of Ekaterinburg and the center of Akademia will temper automobile travel.

The restoration of 101 rue de l’Université, "JACQUES CHABAN - DELMAS" buildings, and of the 32 rue Saint Dominique, made necessary by the natural ageing of the buildings, the evolution and the appearance of new functionalities, was the occasion to propose a unifying project uniting by a shared reception and hall the two buildings and their various functional entities.

The industrial hotel of the Austerlitz development zone with its architecture dating from the 1980s has found a new destiny as a biotechnologies center. The structure of this imposing building, an example of its era, remains unchanged. The work done re-frames, redistributes, and redefines the ensemble to better integrate it into the city and link it to the new university quarter built on the bank of the Seine. The architectural volumes have been sectioned to make way for a new traffic pattern leading to a central square. The once austere inner core has become a green space with terraced façades, covered with a generous undulating pergola where roses, bellflowers, acanthus and clematis grow. This green cascade protects the offices from the sun and spills over into the square.

On the southern side of the Esplanade, in the part of La Défense undergoing renewal, the Opus 12 Tower has been revamped and stands out with its new appearance. In place of the corncob-shaped columns that marked its façades is a lighter, more panoramic load-bearing structure. The resulting gain in floor area has enlarged the work spaces. The technical facilities have been adapted to today’s needs. Enveloped in a double skin of clear and opalescent glass, it takes on new meaning. The vast, high lobby opens resolutely on to the Esplanade and into the tower’s infrastructure, revealing its anchoring.

Located in the Parc d’Expositions de la Porte de Versailles, the building asserts its presence in the city as an urban exhibition hall. To accommodate the sloping site, two halls were superimposed, with 70-meter-wide floor spans and total flexibility of use. On the city side, the façade, constructed of large aluminum-clad panels and glazed curtain walls, is placed on a solid base made up of layers of polished concrete. The roof forms a vast undulating form on the scale of the site itself, with seven large curvilinear canopies advancing toward the boulevard. On the esplanade in front of the hall, the main façade, visible from far off, is made up of a louvered exterior screen wall that serves as a support for lighting and giant advertising panels, behind which is a transparent curtain wall giving onto the superimposed halls. Monumental stairways and escalators are organized symmetrically in the space between them, forming a pronaos, leading to a belvedere with a unique view of Paris.

Located at the intersection between Paris's new Seine Rive Gauche quarter and older, preserved areas, the building follows the shape of the complex site. Along the Avenue de France, a long glass wall, sober and contemporary, reflects the curved shape of the lot. With its curved glass prow and glazed footbridges, the building at times allows the viewer to see completely through it. Facing the older Paris buildings, the scale and materials of the façades provide a subtle transition between two types of construction and between two eras. At once contextual and contemporary, the building prolongs and connects the historic areas and the new quarter.

At the foot of the hill of Montmartre, the Bretonneau Geriatric Hospital extends out from the buildings of the original hospital. The new buildings are organized in a strict matrix, a network of built spaces articulated by quiet gardens. From one century to the other, the architectures echo each other. In a new concept, the Bretonneau Geriatric Hospital brings elderly persons to live in Paris, in an urban place that is respectful of their intimacy. An interior street runs through it, bringing together meeting spaces. The hospitalization units are organized in the form of houses, with some fifteen persons living in each. The forms, the materials and the fittings reconstitute a domestic universe, essential for patients to feel at home.

Between the Austerlitz basin and the RN 4 highway, the UGC Ciné Cité is the first building in a new quarter of Strasbourg. On one side is the traffic headed for Germany; on the other are the still waters, the embankment, and the pedestrians. The site stands out for this duality; the architecture is founded on this ambivalence. In the interior is an immense lighted entry hall, followed by “streets” on two levels. The ambiance darkens gradually to reach the total darkness of the cinemas’. At each end, the Ove and UGC Max rooms balance one another. Covered in green copper, they contribute to this urban landmark.

Expo Hall 4 is the first stage in the vast plan to restructure the Parc des Expositions at the Porte de Versailles Paris Expo site. It is designed to be a facility of exceptional dimensions: 250 m long by 84 m wide, with a clear interior height of 10.50 m. Technical spaces in the ceilings – like those in a theater – as well as in the basements make the various networks available throughout the building, providing for total flexibility of use. Giant beams span the 84-meter width of the building, freeing the space of supporting columns. The entrances to the hall are signaled and magnified by the immense lever arms that hold the beams in tension. Associated with linear sky lighting, they mark the east-west axis and provide orientation and visual ease within the interior volume, for exhibitors as well as for the public. Bordering on the Boulevard Périphérique (Paris beltway), the building is becoming the emblem of VIP Paris.

In the context of the La Défense business quarter, the Leonardo da Vinci University Center asserts is singularity, both intellectual and cultural. In front of a long grey rectilinear building stand three elegant freestanding forms, like sculptures in front of their cymatium, archetypal shapes playing against the background. The colors and materials accentuate the sculptural effect – the two prism forms, one set within the other, are of brown granite; the hollowed cube is clad in green marbled granite and the “prow,” an inverted cone, is of white marble. This play of forms corresponds to a clear functional organization: In the “backdrop” building are the teaching facilities, flexible and upgradable, and in the three freestanding edifices are the laboratories, administrative offices, and library. Between them runs a dense, animated, well-lit interior street. Along it are the community facilities – cafeteria, coffee bar, gymnasiums – where there are many opportunities for encounters between students and professors.

The renovation of the buildings on the Rue de l’Université and Rue Saint-Dominique was an opportunity to propose an ensemble uniting the two buildings and their various functional entities with an entry hall and interior accesses. A new impetus was given by : opening the gardens onto the reception spaces and bringing light into the core of the building. In this spirit, the tone of the interior ambiances is set by the luminosity of the wall and floor coverings : silk-screened glass for the elevator halls, light tones of European oak for the walls and white granite for the floors.

Work by Pierre Buraglio for the Bretonneau Hospital oratorio