Docks en Seine
Designed by the architects Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane, the project is inspired by the various flows of the site, the Seine and promenades along the river banks, and it enhances the original industrial building.
The preserved concrete structure is covered with a new facetted skin of steel and serigraphed glass, called a « plug-over ». On the north façade, the plug-over extends to overhang the Seine, on the roof the upper parts are covered with vegetation, and a large wooden terrace, lit up at night by diodes, is open to the public. The structural system supporting this new skin is the result of a systematic deformation of the load-bearing skeleton of the former general warehouses. The volume of the plug-over is deployed in an arborescence from the existing skeleton.
The concept of plug-over allows not only for maximal utilisation of the building’s envelope, but also for the creation of a fluid and continuous public space. The project thereby prolongs the public promenades overlooking the Seine right up to the grand panoramic terrace, and promotes the return descent in the manner of a great loop that inscribes the building in the urban context. Pedstrian links between the neighbourhoods of the 13th arrondissement and the Seine are also being developed. They link up the level of the quays and the banks. The building becomes an integral part of the site’s urban circumstances.
In summary:
Adaptation of existing structures that are more than 100 years old