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MEUDON CAMPUS
The Meudon Campus, a two-hectare (5 ac) green-roofed office park built on the remains of a Roman era Development Team hillside quarry and, more recently, an automobile factory, comprises five speculative, low-rise office build- Developer ings totaling 45,000 square meters (484,376 sf). Located between Paris’s Issy les Moulineaux and La Défense Hines office submarkets, the campus offers 450 meters (1,476 ft) of Rive Seine frontage and features dramatic London, U.K. views of the city. In addition to 44,300 square meters (476,841 sf) of office space, it contains 700 square www.hines.com meters (7,535 sf) of retail and restaurant space as well as parking for 777 cars in a three-level garage. Owner According to Christophe Leriche, project director, Hines France, “Meudon Campus, part of a 50-hectare (124 ac) land redevelopment of the former Renault industrial site ten minutes from the center of Paris Axa Reim France Paris, France along the Seine, has involved a number of challenges. There was the technical challenge of designing www.axa-reim.com/fr five separate buildings on a site that was a Roman quarry and is located between a well-used railroad and the Seine, which entails heavy water pumping and the risk of mudslides. There were environmen- Architects tal challenges—Meudon’s hill, which had been destabilized during the construction of the Renault fac- Pei Cobb Freed & Partners tory, had to be re-created and the site needed to be cleared of pollution. And there was a real estate chal- New York, New York lenge—how to develop office buildings in a high-end residential sector opposite a zone that will not be www.pcfandp.com fully redeveloped for least ten years. Pei Cobb Freed & Partners’ harmonious and perfectly integrated Michel Macary/SCAU design—which respects new HQE (high-quality environmental) criteria relating to eco-construction, Paris, France www.scau.com eco-management, comfort, and health—successfully met all of these challenges.” Hines France took a significant risk by embarking on a speculative office project in an unproven area. Landscape Architect The construction process also was risky, as it involved stabilizing the quarry site and avoiding any dis- Michel Desvigne ruption of the public transportation system as well as noise and vibration disturbances to nearby resi- Paris, France dential neighborhoods. The developer worked closely with Meudon town authorities to obtain the nec- essary building permits and organized monthly meetings over a three-year period to inform stakeholders about the project and discuss the development process with them. Hines France responded to neighbors’ concerns by strictly limiting the production of dust during construction, reusing crushed materials on- site to stabilize the transportation system and avoid unnecessary truck movement, and adjusting con- struction workers’ schedules to avoid excessive noise disturbance. Designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in association with Michel Macary, the architecture team that collaborated on the Pyramide du Louvre and Stade de France projects, the Meudon Campus’s five build- ings form an arc that follows the natural lines of the hillside and the river. Their curved shapes, green roofs (from which mechanical equipment is absent), and complementary glazing visually relate to their natural environment. More than 400 25-year-old trees have been planted as part of a reforestation effort,
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Project Data and planted areas will be maintained as green space in perpetuity. A number of features reduce and man- Site Area age the buildings’ energy use, including an innovative, high-performance “ice-tray” air-conditioning sys- tem that provides optimal air quality; building-cooling awnings on the south, west, and east facades; and 4 hectares (10 ac) the planted roofs, which are irrigated with collected rainwater. Facilities In September 2005, Gemalto, the world’s leading producer of microprocessor cards, signed a 12-year 44,300 m2 (476,841 sf) office lease for 20,000 square meters (215,278 sf) and 1,000 of the firm’s workers moved to the Meudon Cam- 700 m2 (7,535 sf) retail pus in April 2006. Completed in January 2007, the project has been sold to Axa Reim France. Its high- 777 structured parking spaces quality office space available at rents at the low end of the market has proven to be an attractive alter- Land Uses native for back-office space for major corporations as well as for headquarters space for smaller companies. office, restaurant, retail, structured parking
Start/Completion Dates April 2004–January 2007
Jury Statement Meudon Campus returns a brownfield site not only to usability but to envi- ronmental sustainability. Located on the Seine halfway between two burgeoning Paris submarkets for com- mercial properties, this five-building office park with green roofs and other environment-friendly features offers an alternative to more densely devel- oped commercial centers nearby.
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