French studio Atelier du Pont has completed an office building for the operating teams of Parc de la Villette in Paris, with an exposed, gridded timber frame designed to lend its interiors a woodland feel.
The 3,000-square-metre building, named Pavilion Jardins, was designed to replace a cluster of nine prefabricated buildings that previously housed the teams of the park and its venues but had fallen into a state of disrepair.
Atelier du Pont has completed an office building in Paris. Photo by Fred Delangle
Originally masterplanned in 1982 by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi, the Parc de la Villette is considered one of the most influential projects of the deconstructivist movement, particularly known for the 35 bright-red follies that dot its landscape. Atelier du Pont drew on the park's natural surroundings, as well as the grid system used to arrange its follies, when designing Pavilion Jardins. The studio created an oversized timber grid to frame its interiors and shelter external terraces around its perimeter.
The structure is composed of an exposed, gridded timber frame
"The main idea was to design a pavilion that would be part of the history of the Parc de la Villette and its follies, and would offer a total immersion in nature and the landscape from the interior," the studio told Dezeen.
"Wooden construction was an obvious choice because of its direct relationship with nature and the ease with which it can be used on very sensitive sites."
The inte...