The Blériot-Féval site will host an ensemble of new buildings located next to the station inaugurated in July 2019. The city’s express train connections have cut travel times to its neighbors and the capital by nearly half, enthusing many to develop business with or relocate to Brittany’s epicenter.
The site is divided in 4 plots and as a whole coordinated by JDSA.
The Féval Tower designed by JDSA acts as the masterplan’s geographic and gravity centrepiece, offering 211 new apartments to the city. Our project promotes densification as a response to urban sprawl. The 3 other plots are developed in collaboration with local architects Maurer & Gilbert and Paris offices SMAC and Think Tank.
The tower proposal manipulates the masterplan’s density to unfold a stepped public space on ground level that invites the pedestrians to climb its base. Commercial on ground and office on 1st will compose this base, while the residential program starts its rise up from the 2nd floor, where the tower is most slender. Resonating Rennes’ colombage heritage, the tower thickens as it climbs upwards, to finally reach its maximum girth on level 12. This is where a lush community park sets a pause to the rise and welcomes the building’s inhabitants to a panoramic view of the city’s skyline under the shade of trees. The building then resumes its ascension, mimicking its lower counterpart up to the 21st floor, and finally soars straight up to its 27th floor, offering over 211 new homes to Rennes’ residents.
| Project | Residential, Office, Retail, Sport | Budget | Confidential | Type | Invited Competition |
| Size | 40.000 m2 | Client | Samsic & Bati Armor | Status | 1st Prize, Ongoing 2019 |
| Location | Rennes, France | Team | JDSA, SMAC, MAURER & GILBERT, THINK TANK | ||
| Creative Authorship | Julien De Smedt | Project Leader | Elise Vandenbroecke, Guillaume Gandoin | Project Team |
Reveal list ▿ Anirudha Agara, Daniele Ricciardi, Estelle Bordas, Fabio Liberati, Hermine Bertrand, Nhu Nguyen, Vincent Van Kerckhove |