















Le Carat
France, Lyon
Commercial/Industry
Completed
2009
To the west, lies the relentless, rectilinear, parallel and endless order of the rail network. To the east, the junction of Avenue Thiers and Boulevard Stalingrad. To the south, the string of office blocks, abrupt glazed boxes. The site is simultaneously a prow, a crossroads and a frontier. It is also part of a neighbourhood, with tram stop, residents and shops, where the complex order of the city is clearly visible: inflection, prospect, alinement, environment.
The project, whose monolithic form stretches along the train tracks and the sports grounds, changes direction at Avenue Thiers to make room for a paved forecourt planted with Scots pines, marking the entrance into the building. This particular morphology manages the articulation of different dimensions: on the scale of the city, it constitutes a signal box for the variety of passing traffic, an iconic form, a beacon; on the scale of the neighbourhood, it provides a break: inflection from the alignment with Avenue Thiers, controlling the impact of the building, softening the image, punctuated with planting.
While there is a single building, its perception is multiple, dynamic and ever-changing. The building responds to the complexity of the site with a homogenous form allowing for multiple readings. Thus, it achieves its metropolitan dimension: international-standard office building, urban icon tuned in to the particularities of the site, careful attention with regards the neighbourhood.
Offices and underground car park
SCI Lyon – Thiers represented by Icade Tertial Régions
Public Procurement (MOP law)
Brunet Saunier & Associés
Arcoba (technical services consultant and construction economist), Arcoba (facade technical consultant), Getci (construction economist), Philippe Harden, Golem Images (Xavier Depaule) (renderers)
Marc Chassin assisted by Delphine Lottin, and Astrid Beem (project managers), Elena Martinez-Caraballo, Stéfanie Matthys, Phuong Pham Hoang, Agnès Plumet, Élodie Vadepied
15 000 sq. m
26,5 M€ w/o tax (2009 value)
Éric Sempé