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An international competition was held in 2006 in order to assess the relocation of the Court of First Instance in a newly made available site. A few fundamental project constraints helped determine strategic design decisions such as creating a ground level plaza to maintain east/west urban flow, locate all programs below plaza level and use a high rise structure as marker for the site. In a move to seek a renewed urban balance for the city of Paris, the high rise structure would culminate at 600m above ground level and offer nothing but observation platforms to visitors. The tower is a critical comment on the need to allow integrated renewal of older city fabrics like Paris.

A specific challenge was posed on this tornado prone coast line of the Caribbean: create separate, tornadoes resistant, bungalow modules for a surfing resort.

A specific shape was designed to not just respond to aesthetic criteria but also to offer geometrical structural stiffness, ease of transportation and modular fabrication.

A primary steel structure allows for a natural & light weight cladding material to be applied over the main frame. Two openings – one large (land side) and smaller (ocean side) naturally climate control the spaces by creating a venturi effect and also by minimizing sunlight reflection intake from the ocean.

Separate storage spaces are provided under the floor accessible from both the front and back. Bungalow modules are mounted on steel pods according to topography.

Commissioned for public use along the Hudson River this sun shelter is both skin and structure as it uses 40mm thick steel sheets at different curvatures and cutting patterns to achieve static balance.

The canopy is supported by two planar steel sheets at either end. The side walls are open at 45 degrees contributing to overall balance.

The limited use of materials and the simple geometry combined create a powerful freestanding structure both functional and sculptural.

This reception desk was commissioned by a Paris based law firm which headquarters are located in a 19th century mansion decorated by Louis Majorelle in the early 1900’s. The challenge here consisted of adding another layer of information in this highly ornate environment without saturating it. It was opted to attempt a disappearing act.

The desk is composed of two separate structures: a back painted glass table top and a highly reflective stainless steel front, both elliptical is shape. The elliptical shapes help avoid direct physical relationships with the surrounding. The steel front is curved in one direction to create a sense of distortion, wrapping all surrounding decorative elements and reflecting them out to the approaching visitor.

Full gut renovation of a traditional Paris apartment. Our design involved rerouting all existing plumbing in order to create an entirely new layout away from the original served & service concept. Floors were locally reinforced to allow a centrally located kitchen space around which all other rooms are connected.

The competition brief called for both multiple housing units and apartment buildings on this city owned lot. Being located in a newly developed part of town with low density building fabric, we felt the need existed to create urban continuity and scale. General building massing was therefore generated taking into account street visibility, placing apartment buildings along the high traffic road and smaller dwellings pushed further into the site.

Visual continuity is further stressed using a constructive solution with visible floor slabs all around buildings, thus linking all building scaled together and identifying the development. All apartment layouts provide front and back opening onto private gardens. A common semi-underground parking connects all buildings and allows natural lighting and ventilation of parking spaces.

Centrally located in Paris, this building lot is defined by changing surrounding scales on all its 4 sides. The design tries to mediate this multiplicity of construction materials, building and street scales by providing an articulated building volumetric expressed in different materials and varying alignments. An inner courtyard allows for natural lighting and ventilation of all apartments.

By introducing non-traditional building materials (lacquered aluminum cladding panels, wood siding, cast in place concrete) and mediating existing scales, our design stresses the central importance of integrated contemporary building culture in older city fabrics.

Located in the opera house built by Garnier in 1875, the restaurant is located under a tall side cupola enclosed by large glass panes. In order to achieve both the required number of seats and enhance the spatial qualities of this former staging area, a circular seating plan was devised using a focal point beneath the center of the dome.

A centrally located glass cylinder, serves both as an activation device and an organizational marker; a pastry chef uses the space provided by the cylinder to showcase its skills surrounded from all sides by restaurant patrons.

The restaurant being open from breakfast till late supper, a lighting scheme was devised to create a varying chromogenic pattern throughout opening hours.

Tables are custom designed to allow multiple table sizes using a single table unit.

The specific challenge posed by this music pavilion was to allow a flexible use to the park on which it sits. A tri-chord steel arch spans 30m over the park lawn and supports a tensile fabric roof creating shelter for 5,000 viewers.

Being at the end of a public walkway, the arch completes the perspective without blocking the view from Main Street.

The arch therefore serves as both a landscape framing device and a roof structure from which the roof skin is raised and tensioned in place.

The stage-house structure takes on from the roof structure using circular 4 chord trusses.

The competition brief called to design a “piece of furniture suited for a room corner”. This love seat was conceived as a structure that could only find equilibrium in a room corner, leaning on two walls that would generate enough friction so that it stays static. It accommodates two seated people, intersecting. The seat is an aluminum & felt assembly.

coming soon

A derelict 19th century town house in the center of Paris, the project consists of a full gut renovation of this landmark building. Working within specific conservation & restoration requirements, our design aims at fully reorganizing floor plates and vertical circulations in order to create contemporary living spaces.

A rooftop addition on an existing townhouse is to provide additional living spaces for an expanding family. We opted to sit a steel, glass and fabric box atop the masonry of the old building so as to not mimic nor throw off the existing classical balance but rather start a new set of relationships.

This project aims at looking at older city fabrics and built forms not just from a landmarks and conservation point of view but rather show the possibility of evolution and coexistence.

Designed for a Canadian national this industrial loft space was converted using pine wood and red lacquered furniture elements to create a story line in a deep and narrow space.

The layout retains loft living on one side and provides separate living quarters on the other.

Book shelving, study desks, TV & sound are all integrated within a floor to ceiling pine wood furniture system.

All furniture pieces are custom designed.

The reconstruction and renovation of this 19th century single family home involved demolishing 50% of its load baring ground floor structure in order to connect newly created spaces. Additional usable space was created in the basement by increasing ceiling heights and underpinning foundations. New wall & roof openings were created to bring in light from the courtyard to all living spaces on the ground and first floors.

The competition brief called for developing up to seven multiple family homes on this very constrained site in the Paris suburbs. Facing high railroad traffic on one side and party walls on the other, it was decided to create a series of inner courtyards in order to provide quality space for all dwellings.

Using zoning constraints and integrating the surrounding early 1900’s single family homes, a common roof profile for all units was created and extruded across the site. Railroad facing wall has few openings providing as much building mass as possible to shield the inner spaces. A common underground parking space stretches along the site, providing for private storage and technical spaces.

Each building is equipped with a rain collection system as well roof mounted PV cell panels. Concrete pavers let site water filtrate through soil and minimize impact on city sewer system.

This project transfers technology on the use of cellular polycarbonate from the Battery Park project as it makes full use of the inherent flexibility of the material.

A mixed use building for the Brenton Staking Plaza in Des Moines, the project is made of two separate buildings both shaped along the extrusion of a parabolic arch. In order to clad these doubly curved surfaces, polycarbonate panels are installed at a specific angle.

Specific attention was brought to structural design to minimize steel sections and create an articulated interior space as well as a clear expression of the frame from the outside.

Fluorescent tubes are mounted on each purlin, further stressing the specific geometry at night.

Art Paris is a yearly contemporary art fair promoting young galleries and upcoming artists. A Gallerie specializes in photography with prominent artists such as David Lachapelle, Rankin, Martin Shoeller. The booth layout attempts to provide sufficient wall space for large sized pictures and smaller alcove like hanging areas for smaller works. A centrally located island allows a circulation path around the booth and provides secured storage space for the gallery.

The hedge shaped site on which this project had to be developed is located east of Paris in a low rise single family home neighborhood. Using the geometry of the site as a design guideline, it was decided to fragment the scale of the building in order to not just relate to surrounding environment but also to allow maximum delighting of all units.

All building envelopes were designed using property offset constraints as well as zoning building envelopes. Lifting all building off the ground allowed creating a common garden area as well required surface parking space. A gradient color chart hints at the changing geometry and further defines the development in its surrounding.

All ground surfaces are covered with concrete pavers allowing water filtration through the soil relieving city sewer systems. The general layout allows for increased landscape opportunities.

This is a multipurpose building for the Battery Park City Authority located on a high traffic corner in the south-western edge of Manhattan. It was decided to design a building with a distinctive identity, focusing on the use of alternate materials for the building skin.

The supporting steel frame is made of 4 portal frames with a varying beam/column profile in an inverted sequence. The slightly radiused beams and columns create two doubly-curved surfaces: the south wall and the roof.

All facades are made of clipped 16mm thick extruded polycarbonate panels used in three different colors. Panel lengths provided sufficient flexibility for on-site cold forming.

coming soon