When the building is the landscaping
How far would you go to assimilate with your surroundings? This building appears to grow out of adjoining parkland
Designed by NBJ Architectes
From the architects
Conceived as a stratified and faceted monolith, this French project offers an urban built frontage with a difference.
I-Park overlooks the new Montpellier town hall and is an eight-storey building, each level changing from floor to floor.
The public park stretching along the Lez River gives tenants unobstructed views of the river and its banks.
That said, a landscaped strip of land ensures not only a certain distance between the public and private spaces, affording more privacy for the residents, it also visually connects them to the green area.
The foundation of the project is treated with stamped concrete to give it texture, while the actual building above is differentiated based on its orientation.
The design team from NBJ Architectes conceived the urban facade with a specific composition, where a sequence of three different surfaces interacts with each other to craft a dynamic, almost animated entity.
Against this, the facades facing the park and the Lez River have been planted, so the architecture engages with the green parkland area. This design decision means the building acts as a kind of frame for the landscape, where the environment perfectly incorporates and accommodates the construction.
Reflective facade elements also capture the verdant surroundings.
The plantings and reflective elements set up a lively play between building and environment.
This project’s distinctiveness stems from a strong desire for research and experimentation into living conditions in a Mediterranean climate.
A lot of research went into the planted facades, where the design team worked directly with landscaping and plant specialists to develop prototypes that would be really functional, and therefore sustainable.
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