A new 47-unit mixed-use building in Grenoble, France had a strict set of features specified by the client, leaving little room for design experimentation by the architect. The recessed top floor was to be flanked by two duplexes, a platform at the bottom would contain retail space and be fitted with large glazed shop windows, and large balconies and openings on the façade would allow natural light deep into the building’s interior.
With so many major design elements set in stone, the project’s architect, Maison Édouard François, began to worry the 48,000-sf building was becoming too “predictable.” What was the cure for this predictability, you ask? Snakeskin-inspired cladding, obviously.
The scaly idea was planted in one of the designers’ minds while looking at a handbag in a Prada boutique. It was determined the graphic skin of the python would blur the project and add a level of chicness the area sorely needed. The handbag was scanned, digitized, and “mapped” onto the building form, causing the windows and overhanging balconies to disappear into the reptilian patterns.
See Also: Goettsch Partners’ and Lead8’s mixed-use complex begins construction in Changchun, China
The façade was created from diamond-shaped “scales,” each one identically reproduced in cut metal. The scales were then oxidized to create the three different colors and assembled to create the design of the skin. Because the cladding was so expensive, it was only applied to the façades that required some type of screen. The result is a mixed-use building that rises like a coiled python overlooking the City of Grenoble.
Related Stories
Mixed-Use | Feb 21, 2017
Coconut Grove’s newest mixed-use development springs from a converted parking garage
Terra says the development will be the first newly built office building in central Coconut Grove in over 20 years.
High-rise Construction | Feb 17, 2017
Zaha Hadid Architects-designed building to have the world’s tallest atrium
A 190-meter atrium will rise the full height of the building between two twisting sections.
Mixed-Use | Feb 8, 2017
Santiago Calatrava’s first major UK project will be the heart of the Greenwich Peninsula transformation
Peninsula Place will cost £1 billion and act as a gateway to the new, master-planned district.
Mixed-Use | Feb 7, 2017
Traditional Arab architecture and the surrounding mountainous terrain inspire a luxury hotel in Mecca
The Foster + Partners-designed building will address the shortage of accommodation in Mecca.
High-rise Construction | Jan 26, 2017
Paris tower provides office space and three hotel complexes across its three superimposed volumes
Equipped with hanging gardens and a panoramic viewpoint for its top tier, Jardins de l’Arche Tower will rise in Paris’s La défense business district.
Mixed-Use | Jan 26, 2017
New renderings provide glimpse into large mixed-use project, Circa
The $500 million complex will begin pre-leasing in winter, 2017 and open for move-in early in 2018.
Mixed-Use | Jan 18, 2017
Frank Gehry’s Grand Avenue Project in Los Angeles may finally be ready to break ground
The oft-delayed project was set to begin in 2007 but was halted due to the recession.
Mixed-Use | Dec 1, 2016
Amsterdam’s new sustainable mixed-use building embraces the idea of living on the water
The Sluishuis employs a unique shape that makes it appear different from every vantage point.
Mixed-Use | Dec 1, 2016
Initial work on mixed-use development, The Parks at Walter Reed, is underway
The D.C. development is the product of a partnership between Hines, Urban Atlantic, and Triden Development Group.
Multifamily Housing | Dec 1, 2016
One of Canada’s largest media companies dives into real estate development
Rogers moves forward on M City, a multi-building, multi-year project in a Toronto suburb.