Redeveloping a commercial area in the Grand Est region of France that has fallen into ‘disuse’? Benoit Sindt and Aurélie Husson of studiolada, a six-partner collective based in Nancy, are taking up the challenge. Winners of the 2020 competition for the new headquarters of the Moselle et Madon community of municipalities, the architects have chosen to implement a number of landscaping and technical processes to enhance – or ‘repair’, as they put it – the Neuves-Maison site. One of these was to restore the site’s identity.

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Léa Giamberini

The 2,000-sq.m building stands out like a beacon in this industrial landscape, with its three flamingos emerging from the roof: light and ventilation shafts inspired by houses in Lorraine. The structure of the building is made up of 12 metal and local Vosges spruce portals every 6 to 7 metres. The unstabilised earth that makes up the bricks of the inner walls, which are complemented by a wooden structure, comes from two earth deposits within a radius of 5 to 20 kilometres.

In addition to this reminder of the vernacular, studiolada has called on the goodwill of local residents, students and elected representatives to take part in the creation of the building, as part of a participative worksite supervised by Amàco. They produced the 18,000 local mud bricks for the two interior walls. A way for the architects to symbolise, in the eyes of the residents, the transformation of an area on the threshold of being reclaimed.

A training course in earth construction, aimed at the local economic fabric (craftsmen, reintegration associations, etc.), provided on site by Amacó and financed by the Communauté de Communes, has enabled non-specialist local players to be trained in earth construction.

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Intercommunal headquarters of the Moselle et Madon community of municipalities, Neuves-Maisons, France

Programme : Construction of an office building, reception areas, outdoor spaces, gardens, logistics platform
Client : Communauté de communes Moselle et Madon
Architectss : Collectif studiolada : Benoît Sindt (lead architect), Aurélie Husson (associate architect), Pierre Wendels et Guillaume Cecchin (architects)
Consultants : OAK Ingénierie (structure), Fluid’concept (fluids), AJA (fire safety)
Surface : 2 000 sq.m
Completion : 2024
Cost : 4,3 millions euros excl. tax