Architect：Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés

Location：Bordeaux, France; | ;

Category：Offices;Apartments

Composed of a ribbon shape bending at the corner of two streets, this office building extends over a depth of 18 m. A gap in its outline repeats the fractures developed on the scale of the city block. This break opens views from the apartments onto a green terrace.

The building is treated as a whole with naturel anodized aluminum. This skin, which protects the exterior insulation, is treated seamlessly with the roof, bending over the line of the façade. The resulting continuity gives it a sculptural look. The ground floor lobby opens onto the Rue Boileau. The lobby and vertical gap are linked where the edifice rises to highlight its access point. Window frames and sills are lacquered brown like the vertical fractures and gaps.

The brown color, like a protective tree bark, becomes apparent where the monolith is open. The offices on the penthouse level are set back to create space for terraces protected by the seamless roof. Regular gaps in the building’s profile and contour create contrasts accentuating the volume’s geometric variations.

On a corner of two streets, the apartment building takes full advantage of its exceptional location, its elegant volume standing out like a signal to the distant landscape. Visible from afar, this prominent feature of the site marks this important corner. Its geometry aligned with the street plan bends into the core of the city block. Seemingly complex contours are created by the balconies overhanging the heart of the city block, bending to make room for broad terraces and grandiose views over the landscape of metropolitan Bordeaux. Each apartment enjoys an outdoor space. Made of the same material throughout, the entire volume of the façade bends at the penthouse level.

The enameled terra cotta and anodized champagne aluminum façade is a shimmering white. The contour of gaps is gradual, accentuating the volume’s tapered appearance. Sliding shutters in anodized champagne aluminum are installed in frames of several dimensions to accentuate the width of gaps. All metallic parts have a soft and golden hue. Thus, window frames and guardrails partake in the features ordering the façade, standing out against the building’s main homogenous white and shimmering body.

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