MVRDV has finished the makeover of Lyon Part-Dieu Urban Shopping Center. The redevelopment has altered the old 1970s building, “re-socializing” the commercial mall and revitalizing Lyon’s city core. While reusing many of the existing building’s materials, the design rearranges internal programs, adds more space, replaces a redundant car park, inserts large windows, refreshes the distinctive old concrete façade, and adds an expansive rooftop park connected to the city by monumental stairs. With this significant restoration, a building that was once an impediment to Lyon’s energy will begin a new chapter as a bustling city center attraction.
© Ossip van Duivenbode
Designed at an era when automobiles governed city planning, the original design of La Part-Dieu was an introverted behemoth – it was one of Europe’s largest urban shopping complexes, but had no connection to the streets around it. The renovation removes the previous car park and reorganizes the building’s interior spaces to improve circulation, while new additions add 32,000 square meters to the existing 130,000 square meters. © Ossip van Duivenbode
Lyon Part-Dieu Urban Shopping Center’s Design Concept
Despite the drastic alteration, the design honors the building’s past. The concrete panels that made up the remarkable original façade were maintained and repurposed in accordance with circular economy principles, preserving the pattern of interlocking re...