Firm： ANTHRACITE ARCHITECTURE 2.0

Type： Commercial › Office

YEAR： 2011

SIZE： 25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

BUDGET： $5M - 10M

The « Lotus » offices are the result of the collaboration with the Vannes-based agency – Studio 02 . The building is located in a strategic industrial area of Rennes. The client’s request was to use the dark concrete as principal material for the elevations. The architectural response was to create a black monolith with regular openings which contains more dynamic and active white forms.This set of two materials creates the personality of the project, as well as the very strong and recognizable facades obtained. The shape of the volumes sharpens the project into horizontal lines. It is not a solid block but a labyrinth of outer spaces communicating with the glass and white lacquered metal boxes flowing from one to the other in two directions and providing natural light at different levels. From the office windows, employees may experience a view of the park area, thanks to the visual connections studied during the design phase. The project, even in its simplicity of composition, aims to transmit the values of innovation, comfort, technology, relaxation and brand representation. Due to that, the facade represents the image of the building. It covers over 6,000 sqm of company offices on three floors. Within the building, apart from a wide range of office space dedicated for 200 employees, lie a cluster of conference rooms and a staff canteen/lounge.