Canadian team proposes transforming Paris skyline
June 26, 2015
By
CCE
Engineers enter competition with 35-storey wood tower.
Scheme for 35-storey wood skyscraper for the Réinventer Paris competition by Michael Green Architecture/Equilibrium/DVVD/REI France.
The roof garden will provide a community space with restaurants, cafes, garden spaces and bicycle rentals. Image courtesy of Quarx Digital.
Wood buildings have been growing ever taller in Canada recently, but now a Canadian architect and engineer are part of a team proposing a 35-storey wood high-rise for Paris, France. At that height it will be the tallest wood building in the world.
Michael Green Architecture (MGA) and structural engineers Equilibrium of Vancouver have joined with DVVD and REI France to enter the Réinventer Paris competition. Their entry is “A Proposal to Transform the Paris Skyline and Define a New Era of Carbon-Neutral Building in France.”
“Just as Gustave Eiffel shattered our conception of what was possible a century and a half ago, this project can push the envelope of wood innovation with France in the forefront,” said Michael Green.
The team has designed a complex that will occupy a 6,450-sq. m “Pershing” site that is currently a parking lot and bus station near the city’s convention centre. The scheme also spans the city’s ring road, the Périphérique.
The development will include market and social housing, a student hotel, urban agriculture, a bus station, an e-car hub, and shared common spaces and amenities.
“Our goal is that through innovation, youthful social contact and overall community building, we have created a design that becomes uniquely important to Paris,” said Green.
The designers argue that the wood structure offers a lower carbon footprint than other materials, and say that the Paris project would store an estimated 3,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
The site selected for the wood structure is just one of 23 possible sites that are part of the Réinventer Paris competition. Shortlisted proposals are expected to be announced this summer.
To read the MGA press release, click here.
To read about the Reinventer Paris competition, click here.
