KAAN Architecten, together with PRANLAS-DESCOURS Architecte & Associates, officially announces the start of construction of the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat (CMA) in Lille, the winning project of an international competition held in 2007. The multipurpose building has three main floors with various programs: a public ground floor, an educational first floor and a second floor with office spaces enclosing the auditorium at the core of the building.
Description of the project by KAAN Architecten
The Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat is located at the edge of the old city fortification of Lille, in correspondence of one arterial road defining the city center and the new suburban areas. The building is surrounded by a distinctive landscape featuring infrastructure of rail and motorway, embankments, lush greenery with diverse botanical species and artificial topography, in a mix of landscape and horizontality.
The design developed in collaboration with PRANLAS-DESCOURS Architect & Associates (Paris, France), is based on the site’s history and geography and merges sustainability, landscape, architecture and interior design. The monolithic look of the building results from emphasizing horizontality and highlighting the site on two levels: the landscape and the surrounding neighborhood. The multipurpose building has three main floors with various programs: a public ground floor, an educational first floor and a second floor with office spaces enclosing the auditorium at the core of the building. The different areas are separated one from the other by two independent level entrances, by an articulated program division and a clear circulation system giving shape to a solid and simultaneously compartmentalized building.
The auditorium can be used in various ways as well as the magnificent main lobby. Modern and robust materials have been used, while the spaces have been designed with special attention to the human scale. CMA’s transparency and integration of green patios drive visitors through the building thanks to an easy and natural way-finding.
Text.- KAAN Architecten.
CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-
Architect.- KAAN Architecten, in collaboration with PRANLAS-DESCOURS Architect & Associates.
Project team KAAN Architecten.- Christophe Banderier, Sebastian van Damme, Paolo Faleschini, Raluca Firicel, Michael Geensen, Renata Gilio, Kees Kaan, Maud Minault, Hannes Ochmann, Vincent Panhuysen, Ismael Planelles, Ana Rivero, Dikkie Scipio.
Project team PDAA.- Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours, Gustav Ducloz, Maryléne Gallon, Brieuc Le Coz, Anne Roullet
Client.- Chambre de Métiers et de L’Artisanat du Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Program.- administrative offices, auditorium, main lobby, exhibition spaces, laboratories, teaching rooms, library, educational and study areas, restaurant and parking.
Landscape.- TN+ Paysagistes (Paris, France).
Area.- 17,300 sqm.
Competition.- 2007.
Delivery.- 2017.
Location.- Rue Abélard, Rue du Fouborg d’Arras, Lille, France.
KAAN Architecten is a Rotterdam based architectural firm operating in a global context and merging practical and academic expertise within the fields of architecture, urbanism and research on the built environment. The studio, led by Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio, consists of an international team of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, engineers and graphic designers. KAAN Architecten believes in cross-pollination between projects and disciplines as an essential tool to fostering a critical debate within the studio.
Since the launch of the firm, KAAN Architecten has handled and supervised a wide range of projects, actively working with the private and the public sector, with project teams that become increasingly multidisciplinary and dynamic. KAAN Architecten maintains a culture of constant evolution, which is essential in a profession that changes at a rapid pace. KAAN Architecten seeks to uphold long-term relationships with its clients, consultants and partners.
KAAN Architecten’s projects transcend the traditional notion of scale and typology, ranging from furniture and interiors to urban development and from retail and offices to museums and buildings for health and education.
Selection of completed projects:
2017, B30 – Bezuidenhoutseweg 30, The Hague (NL)!
2016, De Bank – new KAAN Architecten’s office, Rotterdam (NL)
2016, Supreme Court of the Netherlands, The Hague (NL)!
2015, Provinciehuis of North-Brabant, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NL)
2013, Dreamhouse, Rotterdam (NL)!
2013, Education Center Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (NL)!
2010, District Water Board Brabantse Delta, Breda (NL)
!2008, Crematorium Heimolen, Sint Niklaas (BE)!
2004, Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Hague
KAAN Architecten ©Casper Rila
PRANLAS-DESCOURS Architects – PDAA – is a french architectural firm, operating in a global context. PDAA merges practical and academic expertise within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and graphics design.
The studio has built public buildings, housing, and interior designs, and has been nominated several times for the Equerre d’Argent. PDAA has won international competitions in Barcelona, Reykjavik, Paris, and Geneva, obtaining in 2011 the Urban Project Prize for the Rives de La Haute Deûle’s in Lille and in 2012 the Robert Auzelle Prize for the Urban Project of Bottière Chenaie in Nantes. In 2012, Jean-Pierre Pranlas-Descours received in the Honor Médaile of the Architectural French Academy. The main office resides in Paris, with a new bureau in New-York. The studio consists of an international team of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and graphic designers. In 2011, a monograph, “Pranlas-Descours , Architecture Situations” was publish with an introduction of Kenneth Frampton.
