Winner - Hotel Complex Doc G6
Bordeaux, France
Architect Agency: Atelier d'Architecture King Kong
Metal Builder: Labastere 64
Product Solutions used: GEODE façades, SOLEAL doors, sliders and windows, AMBIAL folding door and LUMEAL sliders
Photographer: Arthur Pequin
“It has been decided to award the prize to this project because it is a complicate project to solve due to the smaill surface area. With multiple activities taking place in the buildings, generating a geat mass of creativity and providing an interesting architecture on the façade." Jury comments
The Dock G6 program is part of the urban development of the Bordeaux port heritage, in the heart of the Flot district. The building occupies almost the entire space allotted, a field now transformed into a terrace. In the North, following the street lines, the building permits a clear view on water. It is a singular site, for a project itself original! Isolated functions had to be grouped into an inhabited “megastructure” over the course of construction. It now houses a Radisson Blu hotel with 125 rooms, a wellness area, a conference centre, offices, a sports centre and a car park. The choice of TECHNAL aluminium joinery and facades, combined with the perforated metal mesh, contributed to maintaining the industrial architectural heritage of the site. Raw and natural materials, and their identical “ebony” anodized color, are reminiscent of cranes, grain silos or containers. The extent of the TECHNAL offer has made it possible to respond to the architects' requests: nearly 2,000 m² of SOLEAL 65 frames, glazed from floor to ceiling, are dedicated to the hotel's rooms and suites, and maximize the contribution of natural light. The transparency of the facades creates an osmosis with the port environment, the basins... At nightfall, the lights of the rooms filtered by the mesh give depth to the building envelope. The thermal performance of SOLEAL 65 solutions and the woven mesh are an asset to occupants’ comfort as the building is protected from heat and direct sunlight. All joinery consists of a fixed frame and a ventilation opening (flap). This 20 cm wide system allows safe ventilation and reinforced acoustics; 1,300 m² of GEODE grid curtain walls were installed on the ground floor. Their double height (up to 5.50 m) bathes the shops and the crossing hall in light which connects the inside and the outside; four AMBIAL folding doors and eight LUMEAL sliding doors with concealed hardware open wide and elegantly to the terraces of the bar, the restaurant, the meeting rooms and the hotel suites.
Special Mention - Espace Jeunesse Guy Môquet
Cabestany, France
Architect: OECO Architectes
Metal Builder: SPM Product Solutions used: GEODE façades, AMBIAL XL folding door, SOLEAL windows, sliders and doors. Photographer: Kevin Dolmaire
“It has been decided to award a special mention to this project for its smart mass and interesting architecture developed as an experiment. With an attractive skin and a design that represents the youth of its creators." Jury comments
The Guy Môquet youth center features 1700 m² including a leisure centre, a dance studio and collective housing for associations visiting the area or artists in residence, for example. Cabestany town council's ambition was to create an attractive building to host young children and teenagers during school holidays. The different entities had to be connected but also needed to function independently.
OECO ARCHITECTES agency has imagined a volumetry which superimposes the programmes thanks to half-levels visible from the central atrium. Easily recognizable by its multiple concrete facets, without being too demonstrative, this structural and monolithic "stylish rock" is the new landmark of the city entrance, which has been somewhat neglected until now.
Multiple openings let natural light in, according to needs and uses.
-The dance hall benefits from northern light through a GEODE curtain wall more than 6 m wide and 3 m high. Thin aluminium profiles split this large frame into three, like a triptych praising the surrounding landscape. An XXL AMBIAL folding door, with almost identical dimensions, echoes this glass wall. Children and teachers can enjoy the terrace, which opens completely as soon as the first rays of sunshine appear. -The leisure centre is spread over the three lower half levels. It is an open space around a hall, which can be easily rearranged according to the activities with the help of removable partitions. It is fitted with large 3.20 m high SOLEAL fixed units/doors.
The accommodation on the ground and third floors has 6 dormitories with SOLEAL tilt-and-turn windows to facilitate ventilation. The common area has an 11m wide glazed unit, consisting of two large sliding windows, fixed frames and a SOLEAL door. It allows the occupants to enjoy the terrace on the top level, which overlooks and contemplates the Canigou mountain in the distance. OECO Architects agency chose TECHNAL aluminium joinery because of its slim mass views, which blend in with the concrete used for the envelope. Their natural anodised aluminium appearance blends delicately with the beige concrete colour and the wooden underside. Materials are raw, robust and sustainable.
