#COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
jakob + macfarlane completes green cube building for euronews' HQ
the redevelopment project for the quay rambaud, located along the banks of the saône river in lyon, is part of a vast masterplan aimed at renewing the city’s confluence district, formerly an abandoned dockland.
as part of this development, paris-based architecture studio jakob + macfarlane designed two distinctive buildings: the orange cube, which completed in 2011, and the green cube, a design that forms the headquarters of euronews.
the scheme is conceived as a stretched cube, pierced by two conical atria — referred to as ‘eyes’ — that introduce daylight and air, while providing views of the adjacent waterway. symbolically, the openings are also intended to represent those of the news organization, capturing the events of the world around us.
the building’s envelope is composed of a light, primarily glazed façade, doubled with an irregularly perforated aluminum cladding. this results in a permeable double-skin that plays with light inside interior spaces and enriches perspectives towards the exterior — a cinematic approach that references the movement and flow of the saône.
the bold choice of green is seen as a reference to the color of the river, and sets up a dialogue between architecture and the undulating landscape located on the opposite bank. the pattern of the perforated elevation was created by french artist fabrice hyber, who often uses the color green in his work.
internally, the building contains two primary types of program: public service spaces at ground level, including the entry hall and restaurant, and the headquarters of euronews, complete with various offices, recording studios, and multimedia spaces. the entry hall traverses the ground level, connecting the quay to the parallel circulation road to the east. the offices are spread across six levels: storeys 1 and 2 contain the newsroom, while the remaining levels contain two studios each, accessible via two vertical circulation cores that also contain technical spaces.
