Euronews Headquarters

EURONEWS

Built for an international European news television network, this project involved the VNF (Voies Navigables de France) and the French public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts, as well as the Sem Lyon Confluence, which also took part in the earlier Orange Cube project. In fact, the two buildings, which are located fairly close together on the banks of the Sane, were imagined at the time of the original competition for the Orange Cube.

The fluorescent green building has a floor area of 109,790 sq. ft. (10,200 m) on seven levels above grade, used for a multimedia area, office space, and TV studios. As is the case with the Orange Cube, each office level has access to an open-air balcony. The architects explain that the project was designed as a « huge parallelepiped," or stretched cube block pierced by two conical atrium spaces that introduce light, air, and views out to the river. The atriums are open to the environment and were imagined as two gigantic eyes observing the river and its surroundings. According to the client, these eyes can be interpreted symbolically as the eyes of Euronews, large abstract receptors "gleaning and capturing the events of our world around us." If the architectural volume is perceived as a monolithic block, the voids and facade enrich its materiality, which becomes colored, porous, and airy.

The facade design was developed in part with the French artist Fabrice Hyber. The pattern of the façade is intended to bring to mind waves-perhaps those seen in the river, but also the waves that formerly carried television transmissions. According to those involved, green-one of Fabrice Hyber's favored colors-also evokes the neighboring river.

The architecture of the Euronews headquarters shows how an ambitious office program can be transformed into an experimental form of architecture-one that seeks to reconcile formal innovation and sustainable development.

Completed in 2014

Photos: Nicolas Borel, Roland Halbe