Hall of residence ESAIL Lyon 2010

ESAIL
Refurbishing of an old 60’s low-rise building

Lyon, 3 000 sqm

The building was located at the entrance of “La Doua” campus. It was built in the 60’s, close to the centre of Lyon, along the tramway rail. The building was initially dedicated to teaching and research.
The campus was being refurbished. Thus, thanks to the strategic location of the building, we had to make it the symbol of the new birth of the scientific campus.

The building was built on a regular post and beam structure, with a flat roof top and a North oriented curtain façade. It was characterised by two contrasted façades. One South oriented, facing the tramway station, sunny and dynamic. The other, North oriented, facing the Alps, which gave on a waste ground and an old amphitheatre. Inside, a central corridor divided the building on its length and reinforced the lack of porosity between North and South.

The program was mixing public areas link to the city, with students housing. To open the campus to foreigners, it would welcome exchange students and local ones.

To embody this new beginning, the building wear a new skin, reflect of its porosity, dynamism and activities.

The double skin facade was a free-standing open corridor in steel, support of a growing vegetation. At the North, the private walk way leads to the bedrooms. It offered a panoramic viewpoint over the mountain. At the south, it was a large terrace, open to the flat. It was consequently a place of exchange between the inhabitants. Furthermore, the nature would create a filter against sun, noise and would protect the life of the inhabitants.

The housing were organised according to the grid pattern of the structure. In doing so, each flat was double-oriented, with at south, the living spaces, and at north, the night spaces. Each apartment was a roommate of 5 people in duplex. The flats were working by group of two, one being the image of the other, sharing their kitchen. To embody the living spaces, a wood façade create a terrace at the ground floor of each duplex. At the upper floor the wood skin could be transformed into a table, chairs and a deckchair.

To open the building to the campus and the city, the ground floor was welcoming a restaurant, a bar, a library both opened to students and citizens.

The building thanks to its living materials, its growing vegetation, and its space organisation, encouraged exchange. Furthermore, it changed at different times scales: daily students activities, night and day activities, with library, restaurant and bars, and the natural ageing of the materials.