Taconnets

A PEACEFUL DENSIFICATION
The judicious distribution of the built volumes adapted to the conditions of the site allows peaceful densification, carrying a voluntary and measured development. Thus, a good part of the density is "absorbed" along the natural limit formed by the SBB tracks. The balance of the surfaces is distributed in successive elements oriented perpendicularly to the tracks, facing the Chemin des Taconnets. These low volumes present a face that is permeable to the sun and to life, proposing a scale that is more in keeping with that of the adjacent neighborhoods.

A PROMENADE TO LIVE
The "comb" urban design offers a series of south-facing courtyards which are the levels of a public promenade running longitudinally across the site. Pedestrians and bicycles stroll freely along the open spaces of the first floor, which is mainly dedicated to leisure activities, local shops and the common areas of the houses. Each courtyard is distinctly characterized by a particular program of leisure spaces. These pavilion buildings define and qualify the limits of the courtyards towards the street. The promenade thus offers a wide variety of atmospheres to its users.

AN ESPLANADE THAT CONNECTS
A public esplanade, welcoming and bustling with activity, is located at the functional and symbolic center of the district. Conceived as a true multi-modal convergence point, this square is a bridge, literally and figuratively, that connects the northern and southern "banks" of the community. Thus, the gap that once represented the train tracks becomes a privileged place of communication. As a counterpoint to the space freed up by the large public space, it is here that the progressively increasing sizes of the neighborhood culminate to form the summit of an urban volumetric crescendo.

A COMPLICIT MOBILITY
The project relies on the strong presence of public transport to promote the synergies generated by easy connections with individualized modes of transport. Thus, the multimodal square clearly displays its role as a "hub", with an architecture dedicated to transport placed in the center, welcoming buses, cabs, and bicycles. The station's footbridge is clearly opposite the bus stops that face it. While cars cannot access the site on the surface, "kiss & ride" spaces are provided around the perimeter of the square and contribute to its organization. The underground parking has two access points on the periphery of the site, located at both ends. From the interior of the site, the parking lot is directly served by all the building cores and by exits located along the promenade.

A PHASED CONSTRUCTION
The scale of the project calls for thinking about the development of the site in phases, and conditions and the relevance of the planning options. Construction of the proposed project would begin at its vital center, the multimodal plaza. Construction could then proceed from this center, first to the west, and then to the east until completion. This approach would not only be commercially and symbolically advantageous but would also be compatible with the redefinition of the reference level of the entire site, located at approximately 3 meters above the natural ground level. The access to the parking lot, studied with transitional solutions, will allow its use during the entire construction period, planned in stages.

A TYPOLOGICAL VARIETY
The dynamism that the inhabited Hub embodies will depend on its capacity to offer a diversity of typologies. It is only in this way that a multiplicity of different household forms could cohabit within a lively and convivial district. The project, therefore, proposes a large number of built rooms, sometimes high or low, thin or thick, oriented north/south or east/west. Each of them is being studied and dimensioned to be able to shelter large and small dwellings, adapted to their specific orientations and situations.

A MATCHING ARCHITECTURE
While the scale of the district calls for a multiplicity of actors, including a large number of architects, the qualitative issues require a coherent image of the district. It will therefore be a matter of finding, in agreement with the developers, simple but sufficient rules, going in the direction of this double objective of bringing together both difference and harmony: concordance. What if each of the 3 construction phases were entrusted to 3 different architects? What if they were all guided by code-defining materials and colors? And what if they were all guided by code-defining materials and colors? And what if...