unveiling the Qpark Ravet in Chambéry’s historic middle
Set as a curving and translucent quantity within the historic middle of Chambéry, France, the QPark Ravet is a brand new 499-space parking complicated designed by Hérault Arnod Architectures, collectively with artist Krijn de Koning. The road, constructed within the first half of the nineteenth century and lined with arcades, results in the Dukes of Savoy citadel, a Twelfth-century landmark, passing by the well-known Elephant Fountain. Reverse the citadel, the attitude of the road converges on Q-Park Ravet, framing a scenic mountain backdrop.
Contemplating the historic context, the architects sought to steadiness out the purely utilitarian high quality of Ravet by that includes a sculptural crimson belvedere on the street-castle axis. This distinctive quantity was imagined in collaboration with the artist.
all photos © Cyrille Weiner
a translucent quantity with tender outlines
The crew at Hérault Arnod Architectures organized the QPark Ravet in a triangle, with rounded corners that reduce the mass impact and create smooth and vanishing strains to make the constructing seem smaller than it’s. These curves on the finish of the triangle additionally correspond with the neighboring buildings’ rounded edges — additional mixing the brand new construction into its context.
Complementing that ‘softening’ impact is a translucent façade boasting a U-shaped steel profile that wraps across the constructing from road stage to the highest flooring. Between these metallic sections, glass strips masks the inside in a show-and-tell sample seen inside and outdoors the storage complicated.
‘The façades are 50% empty, so the automobile park is taken into account exempt from fireplace laws, and they’re clad in vertical glass strips positioned at 45° (60% recycled glass and enameled to be opalescent). The empty gaps create quite a lot of extra views of town. By day, the performance of the constructing is on full show. By night time, perceptions change because of indoor lighting that softly etches the city panorama,’ explains the observe.
The inside of the triangular patio is a backyard planted with undergrowth vegetation – ferns, periwinkles, maples, hydrangeas, and extra. The going through south terrace options Mediterranean-type vegetation with umbrella pines, fig bushes, lavender, and grasses.
the cantilvering belvedere was designed collectively with artist krijn de koning
the belvedere, a sculptural piece with scenic vistas
Whereas Hérault Arnod Architectures established the purposeful layer, artist Krijn de Koning stepped in to plot a sculptural aspect of QPark Ravet. Connected to the principle constructing, the strikingly crimson and cantilevering belvedere lends a public and concrete dimension to the constructing, enabling a brand new solution to embrace town. It may be accessed by way of an exterior staircase on the second flooring with out going by means of the parking storage. From above, pointing to the Rue de Boigne, it affords an impressive panorama of the city panorama, the river, the citadel, and the Alps.
‘Descending the belvedere staircase places you on the axis of the road, and it’s framed at mid-height to focus on a novel perspective of the historic metropolis. Within the different course, the road perspective ends with the mountain background and the curved, translucent volumes mixture of the automobile park and the sculptural belvedere that leans in opposition to it within the axis of town road. The architectural gesture is predicated on the complementarity between the curved, minimal, and translucent automobile park façades and the sculptural sky bar, orthogonal and coloured. This meeting of the automobile park and the belvedere provides the constructing its distinctive id. It was in step with this concept that the collaboration with Krijn de Koning was established,’ concludes the observe.
guests can entry the belvedere by way of an exterior staircase on the second flooring
on the automobile park rooftop, shading buildings outfitted with photovoltaic cells shelter vehicles
