Channelbeta - projects -Centre Bus Thiais

In the project for the Bus Center in Thiais, the french Emmanuel Combarel and Dominique Marrec, show the reached equilibrium among particular and general, sustained by the controlled expression of the forms and of the colors. To the solid and monochrome line that protects the outside contrasts the colored and vivacious cut that discovers the inside. The detail is introduced as element that gives aesthetical value to the architectural object and captures the attention revealing from close up to the observer. The materials, chosen for they plasticity, complete the apparent simplicity of the project.

Cabiria Iannucci - Channelbeta

Thiais RATP Center Bus : Creation of the new administrative building.

<< As one of the world's largest urban transport companies and technology pioneer, it is only natural that RATP's buildings should reflect the company's image >>, states Remi Feredj, Real Estate Manager for RATP. << The Thiais building certainly meets this requirement. It helps to improve the site urban landscape. It is the pride of the hundreds of people who will be working there and represents a sign of belonging and a symbol of what we are all about >>.

Based near Orly airport and Rungis wholesale food market, this administrative complex comprisesvarious services on the site. As well as a secure control center which manages three hundred buses, the new Bus Center building also houses a rest area with facilities, open round the clock, for use by the managers, service personnel and bus drivers. […]

The area surrounding the new periurban-styl building is cluttered with major brand warehouses and industrial buildings, wide streets and junctions. ECDM's challenge was to reconcile functionality with integration, and design a relay-type building which blends into the scenery while, at yhe same time, forming a modern and attractive focal point. The architects plumped for spatial continuity. […] This effect is achieved by covering the entire building and a large tarmac strip surrounding it in Ductal ®, Which has a strong mineral homogeneity. This elegant concrete "skin" runs along the edge of the building before rising up so that the building ( roof included ) and road merge into a sigle coherent structure - bestowing the new Thiais Bus Center building with its unique identity.

ECDM (Paris)

The designers of the new Thiais RATP bus Center building are Emmanuel Combarel and Dominique Marrec, foundres of ECDM(Paris), set up in 1993. Both are ardent supporters of contextual architecture, taking structure, restrictions linked to function and the socio-cultural concerns of the surroundings into account. […]

<< One dominant characteristic can be found in the firm's work >>, as expressed by Marrec and Combarel themselves. << It is the desire to offer simple architecture with rigorous logic and without preconceptions or stylistic concerns >>. […]

Designing the Thiais Bus Center provided ECDM with the perfect opportunity to express its practical

and reflective approach to architecture. The challenge was two-fold. On the one hand, it was required to meet strict specifications which included housing monitoring, management, reception,meeting and relaxation facilities on the same site. And on the other hand, it was required to experiment with new physical and sensitive relationships to materials, including the ultrahigh performance concrete Ductal ®. In the case of the Thiais project, Ductal ® is the architect's trump card, used as cladding to cover the building as a physical, esthetic element to merge the ground, walls and

underside of the building into one.

Balance and unity

[…] After a lengthy observation and survey phase which generally involves consulting future users, the architects designed an administrative unit which is both ambivalent and suggestive, organically emphasizing continuum

rather than rupture. […]

The architects wanted to extend the road

into the building to give the impression that it had suddenly emerged from the ground like a beautifully risen cake. The idea of designing a " skin"-type covering for the surrounding area and the building emerged quite naturally. This skin <<creates the impression that the flow of traffic and the building are blurred together, endowing the site with a powerful visual density >>.

This skin looks like the world-famous pattern on a piece of Lego, except that it is enlarged and reproduced ad infinitum. […]. In addition, this pattern of regularly repeated studs meets the specifications requirements for an anti-slip surface. It is a perfect blend of effect and function. The ease with which Ductal ® can be molded further enhances the esthetic effect. The top edges of the building are beautifully rounded without the slightest hint of aggression. There is no facadism and no front or back ti this building whose entire structure exemplifies unity.

A distinctive building

[…] The openings in this monolithic-type block look like they were cut out of the building after it was built with a giant Stanley knife. But this apparent radical quality is only skin deep. In fact, grace and elegance is evident throughout this building which invites you to enter and wander along its light and airy passageways, leading directly through the building and out again to the other side. The different color schemes used to distinguish the various indoor areas together with the spacious offices, generous lighting and attractive indoor patio area, bathed in a pool of light, all bear witness to this elegance which makes the building pleasing to the eye and a comfortable place to work in.

Even the reflective structural glazing conveys a sense of elegance, with its tinted or partially frosted glass creating multiple reflections and morror-like effects. Independently of its administrative functions, the new Thiais Bus Center is intended to represent a

miniature version of the surrounding environment. The openings are decorated, on the outside, in four different colors (blue, green, yellow and orange), contrasting sharply with the gray concrete. This is no decorative fancy but rather a deliberate decision to use minimalist polychrome which has a

strong impact and again stems from the desire for symbolic symbiosis. These colors have been carefully chosen and are a physical reproduction of the equally loud colors displayed on the shop signs and billboard in the nearby shopping district : << We have reused the primary, rather basic colors found in the surrounding area >>, said the architects. This remarkable building is sure to elicit two responses. Firstly, it catches the eyes, its high architectural quality and bombastic appearance naturally arousing curiosity. And secondly, it generates discussion. Yet, this new building is far from an example of radical autonomy and is no UFO either, despite its unusual characteristics. This building is neither provocative nor out of touch with reality. But nor does it bow down to "poor quality" urbanity- a common characteristic of the neighboring buildings. […]

It forms part of the local area while, at the same time, adding something to it.

More than just adding soul.

[…] Its cube-like form calls to mind the warehouse-type outlets in the nearby shopping district.

Its low height ( R+1) is similar to the horizontal buildings in the surrounding area. On the top of the building, the Ductal façade rises skyward, ensuring visual continuity between the surronding area and the buiding itself, enchancing, rather than diminishing, this extremely graphic attempt at insertion. […]

<< It's a question of refusing absolute architecture >>, say Marrec and Combarel, << and focusing on adapting the building to its surroundings >>. […]

For example, contrary to expectations, their aim in using Ductal ® as a layer of skin is not to flaunt the concrete's exceptional physical qualities, but rather, in accordance with an original decorative

perspective, to highlight its power to seduce, its visual potential and the unusual elegance of its mineral quality. This propensity to humanize a supposedly "hard " material brings to mind the work of Marcel Breuer, at odds with elementary functionalism. When designing buildings, this great master of concrete architecture liked to think of them as "sculptures with a function".

In recent decades, architecture's "sculptural evolution" has places its faith in sizeable proportions.

The familiar, often disappointing result of this approach is that free from takes precedence over function and its specific layout requirements. In its own lively but non-aggressive way, the new Thiais Bus Center building provides the occasion for revival. […]

So, more than just adding soul, it's all about designing a building which is just right.

Paul Ardenne

Client : RATP (Régie autonome des transports

parisiens)

Architects : Emmanuel COMBAREL Dominique MAR

REC Architects (ECDM)

Engineering : BETOM - SIT

Main contractors : DUTHEIL - BETSINOR (prefab -

concrete)

LABASSETERE (aluminium windows, metalwork)

Photographers Benoît FOUGEIROL - PhilippeRUAULT

Program : Administrative building