Heritage, landscape and density
Guillaume Ramillien (F)
architect
Europan 9 Clermont-Ferrand
runner-up
The dual process underlying the project aims to address the requirements of the dense and varied programme centred on the Hôtel-Dieu, viewed as a piece of heritage to enhance in the midst of a panoramic park.
One aspect involves refurbishing existing structures, blending historic and contemporary buildings in a dialogue between mineral and tectonic supports and light, overhead extensions; the other involves preserving and releasing the potential of vast tree-lined areas opening onto the landscape of Auvergne volcanoes. This offers the prospect of "living in a park" which respects both the lie of the land and the principle of a social and generational mix, expressed in terms of varied typology and architecture.
This project is connected to the following themes
Shared spaces - A Frame for social life
The project combines a restructuring of the old hospital buildings and the insertion of new structures, which together form a dense ensemble of shared and diverse spaces which encourage social relations between the inhabitants of the new district.
Housing - Typology
Through a sensitive and delicate aesthetic rendering, the project proposes a bold and radical treatment of habitat and the vertical multiplication of apartment typologies to link in with the distant landscape.
Nature - Proximity / Horizon
The intensification in building densities helps both to preserve the qualities of the existing inhabited park and to provide a vertical extension of the hospital and a distant link to the volcanic landscape.