For the 1968 Winter Olympics, the construction of the Chavant post office was entrusted to the architect René Gagès. The strength of its composition and the slenderness of its white towers in contrast to the Perret tower signal entry into a "modern" city. In 2020, we were selected with Quartus and Link architects to transform this built heritage within the framework of the call for projects initiated by Poste Immo.

The challenge of this project was to transform this building and its surroundings so as to accommodate an entirely renewed program adapted to the future needs of the city, with particular attention to its heritage value and the need to minimize short- and long-term environmental impacts.

The ambition of the project was to transform a public space into a peaceful refuge for all, encouraging a sense of community while at the same time reducing the impact of urbanization on the environment.

An important deliberation was made, in collaboration with Quartus and Link architects, to rethink the relationship between the building and the city, with the choice of a program which promotes social life on the ground and first floors (neighborhood stores, restaurants, a climbing room, the post office), as well as the architectural desire to redesign the surroundings, to offer high transparency, and to provide gardens on the roof terraces. On the upper floors, offices and housing units are equipped with breathtaking views, shared interior and exterior spaces, and generous private spaces with loggias for each apartment.

The project did not provide for any demolition of the primary structure, which consists of reinforced concrete. The current facades, which were completely modified in the early 2000s, broke with the initial structure’s characteristics and made it impossible to reach acceptable energy performance. These were completely redesigned in the spirit of the original facades of René Gagès in order to provide marked improvement in performance and to meet their new requirements. Finally, the distribution and interior spaces were completely redesigned with the goal of reducing the length of the partitions to a minimum for a more economical use of resources.

Location
Grenoble

Project type
Call for projects

Program
Housing
Offices
Commerce

Project owner
Quartus

Team
Chatillon Architectes
(lead architect),
Link architectes
(associate architect)

Competition project
2020