La Licorne Office Building / PERIPHERIQUES Marin+Trottin Architectes

Architects: PERIPHERIQUES Marin+Trottin Architectes
Location: Avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 53000 Laval, France
Lead Architects: Emmanuelle Marin, David Trottin
Area: 2199.0 m2
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Luc Boegly

Project Managers ( Construction ): Antoine Roy /MIRO/
Project Managers (Study) : Claire Gaudin, Juliette Bonnamy
Assitants : Karine Bergevin, Maud Armagnac, Vania Léandro
Technical Engineer : Egis Bâtiment Centre Ouest
Acoustics : Peutz & Associés
Client : SEM Laval Mayenne Aménagements
Budget : 3,45 M € not including VAT (value 2013)
Program : A three-storey office building with mixed companies, generous common spaces: rooftop terrace and an inner courtyard, a building with low energy consumption (BBC)

From the architect. This building for innovative companies is situated in a new area of Laval city. Though it’s located on a small size plot, this sparkling project wants to become an important landmark for its neighborhood.

The project wanted to keep the notion of an hotel, or a caravanserai welcoming merchant. The workspaces are a set of rooms and suites, which are all connected together by a pathway surrounding a large patio. This « enfilade » system, this succession of rooms, makes possible a certain modularity by giving the choice to link the spaces together or not.

Because of the project’s program, our main goal was to give users a place with the best conditions of light, circulation and potential meeting area. During the competition, floors were partitioned with 30-50 sqm working room, as it was requested by the rules. But the structural grid of 1.35m and the light partition system used, allow any other type of interior partitioning.

The specific design of each facade depends on sun exposure in a way that it maximizes the contributions and protections. The interplay of sunshade points out the entrance and gives the façade a subtle kinetic appearance. The different skies that will illuminate the building will give a changing and atmospheric perception of it.