Perforated steel mesh wraps this town hall in northwest France by LAN Architecture, creating a skin that changes from opaque to transparent when illuminated at night (+ slideshow).

Paris-based LAN Architecture ? whose previous projects include a gymnasium with a copper-hued facade and a renovation of a Brutalist tower ? designed the municipal administration and training building for the town of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande.
The majority of the building's walls are wrapped in the perforated steel skin, which provides protection from the sun and reveals and conceals various parts of the interior.

"The facades are defined by their two layers, each one answering different needs and complementing the other perfectly," suggested the project team. "Within this structure, everything is about overlap, reading a distance, transparency, counter-light, and reflection. Everything is about light and character."

Angled shutters added to the windows offer protection from direct sunlight. The density of perforations on the steel panels alters depending on their orientation to ensure adequate light reaches the interior.

Town Hall Saint-Jacques de la Lande is situated at the intersection of two main thoroughfares. It forms part of a mixed-use regeneration project aimed at creating a new town centre in the town's Morinais area.
The building forms an extension of an adjoining plaza. Formed of two simple geometric volumes, it has a homogenous aesthetic inten...