ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION
CONSTRUCTION OF A PASSIVE INNOVATION CAMPUS
SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE - FRANCE
SHORTLISTED TEAMS
the 3 teams selected for the competition
WINNING PROJECT
environnement at the heart of the project
The transformation of the campus should be integrated into its natural surroundings and minimise its impact on them. To achieve this, the project will have to be ingenious in order to meet the following requirements:
- Passive buildings : The energy consumption of the buildings constructed must not only be controlled, but reduced to a strict minimum. Passive building standards must be met.
- Biophilic design : The park of the Château Saint-Léger and the surrounding wooded areas form a privileged natural setting that the project must enhance. The boundaries between the building and the park will have to be blurred in favor of an architecture integrated into its environment, favoring biodiversity and proximity of users to the living.
- Low-carbon construction : Particular attention will be paid to the carbon impact of construction before being operated, with preference given to the use of bio-sourced, geo-sourced and local materials. The objective is to move towards a Net Zero Carbon Campus.
cross-fertilization for innovation
Through executive education and design-based incubation programmes, iXcampus fosters open innovation and creates the conditions for the development of impactful technological solutions to environmental and societal challenges.
The method: building bridges between ideas, talents and resources. Anchored in and open to the city, the campus is part of its history and responds to the challenges of its territory. iXcampus offers a living experience and a demonstrator of positive impact innovation. The campus is also moving towards a sustainable management model in terms of procurement, building sustainability, energy consumption and waste management.
The project must therefore respond to multiple challenges:
- Design a sustainable and reversible building complex that can accommodate any type of programme on the campus over the long term, and allowing tomorrow's uses to be established there without having to modify the structures already present.
- Enable the emergence of human and technological synergies through innovative spaces and offer cross-fertilization to stakeholders in the worlds of business, research and higher research and higher education.
a place filled with history
The 7-hectare project site bears witness to a history that began at the end of the 19th century and whose buildings, with their highly distinctive identities, reflect the different eras that have followed.
Built between 1884 and 1886 by the architect Léon Carle for the wealthy industrialist Charles Sieber, the Château Saint-Léger has become the symbol of the current iXcampus site.
In 1946, the Institut de Recherche de la Sidérurgie (IRSID) acquired the estate and set up its research centre there. In the early 1950s, this new vocation led to the construction of a group of buildings, many of which were designed by Jean Prouvé, such as the very airy Grand Escalier serving all floors of the main building.
In 1988, Dominique Perrault was commissioned to design an ambitious restructuring of the château. After three years of major renovation and underground extension work, the project led to the creation of a 200-seat conference centre and the installation of a glass slab, the only element visible from the outside, giving it a contemporary dimension.
In 2016, iXblue arrived on the Saint-Germain-en-Laye site with the establishment of a research centre and its head office in the existing buildings. Since then, the company has created iXcampus and undertaken a vast renovation and modernisation project, creating a restaurant and a sports centre.
Positioning of the buildings to be constructed on the Campus
program
The iXcampus project is part of a university development process for the area, orchestrated by the city and CY Cergy Paris Université, with the aim of welcoming 6,000 students, including those from Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the Lycées International et Horticole. By 2024, in addition to the outdoor facilities that will give the campus a real identity, and a 5,000sqm underground parking lot to accommodate all the vehicles on the site, iXcampus plans to build two new buildings and raise an existing building:
The Northern Building - 12,000sqm
Inserted between the recently renovated 1950s building to the south and the wooded area along the RN13 to the north, the 12,000sqm building will include 1,500sqm of incubator space, 4,000sqm of business incubator space, a 500sqm digital FabLab, 1,200sqm of restaurant space, and 4,500sqm of space dedicated to a higher education institution.
These different programmatic entities will have to interact with each other by eliminating their borders to optimize human interaction. The building must be the breeding ground for synergies between companies, startups and students. As such, it is essential that it be scalable and allow for the adaptation of spaces as the occupants change.
The Eastern building - 3,000sqm
Located on the eastern tip of the site, between the RN13 and Rue de la Croix de Fer, this building of approximately 3000m² will be delivered as a bare plateau and will be able to accommodate one or more higher education and research establishments. It will be designed to function independently and ensure a certain permeability with the campus.The extensions - 1,000sqm
Building A, the former headquarters of the Ford company, was recently renovated and now houses a 4,000m² business incubator as well as classes for the CY tech university in Cergy. The two east and west wings of the building are to be raised in order to extend the capacity of the incubator and to create the offices of iXcampus.
PARTNERS
this competition is organized in partnership with
archdaily, aglo and bustler
WINNING PROJECT
KARAWITZ ARCHITECTURE
