Tall & Urban News

Rennes to Become Home to 26-Story Architectural Venture

A rendering of the future 32,000-square-meter Féval Tower.
A rendering of the future 32,000-square-meter Féval Tower.
12 July 2019 | Rennes, France

On 9 July 2019, the east of Brittany town of Rennes was announced as the site for a new architectural project, Féval Tower. The development will contain 32,000 square meters of space within four buildings, including the future headquarters of Samsic.

The Féval Tower scheme was initially entered as part of a design competition, launched in 2018, which mobilized 84 international teams, five of whom were selected to move forward to a first presentation of ideas on 30 April 2019. At the end of this competition, the winning project team included Julien de Smedt and Marc Mimram (Copenhagen and Brussels), Stéphane Maupin (Paris), Maurer and Gilbert Architects (Rennes), and Think Tank (Paris).

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Each building within the Féval Tower scheme maintains a design in strong connection with the use it houses: a restaurant with a balcony that boasts city views, an atrium housing offices and residential spaces, and private terrace spaces within each unit.

“The compact nature of the development allows thermal loss to be significantly minimized.”

The drawings of the project depict a 26-story tower that flares up as it rises towards the sky. Successive corbels allow the volume to flare as it rises, minimizing the project footprint and optimizing the developed surfaces. The compact nature of the development allows thermal loss to be significantly minimized.

Shared-space gardens, a winter garden, a roof-top garden, and other uses of integrated vegetation are imperative to the design of the project. The tower is aiming for a low energy consumption and carbon footprint level. Connected to the district heating network, the operation aims to reach the E3 C1 energy performance level.

The first two levels of the tower will contain 1,067 square meters of space and is set accommodate commercial businesses. In accordance with requirements set by the local Rennes housing program for the ZAC EuroRennes, the tower will include 28 social housing units out of total 180 dwellings.

For more on this story, go to Le Moniteur.