© Luc Boegly
- Architects: Lautrefabrique Architectes
- Location: 139, ZA du Vercors, 38140 La Murette, France
- Lead Architects: Jean-Pascal Crouzet, Architect Dplg
- Design Team: Anne Exbrayat, François Durdux
- Area: 1410.0 m2
- Project Year: 2018
- Photographs: Luc Boegly
- Other Participants : Charles Marcolin Chief Executive Officer and Founder Muriel Blanc-Duret, Board Director, Strategy and Design Department, Anne-Sophie Kapps, Director, Communication & Marketing Pierre Novelli, National Technical Director
- Hvac Engineers: H3C, Pierre Ruzin
- Structural Engineers: Cebea, Cécile Sibert
- Acoustical Engineers: DBSilence, Loïc Sturm
- Quantity Surveyor: DBH, Cedric Huther
- Clients: Korus
© Luc Boegly
Text description provided by the architects. Committed to the transformation of its workspace into a place of living and sharing, Korus, has rethought its collaborative effectiveness, establishing new paradigms for working together.
© Luc Boegly
Previously spread over a two-storey building, Korus now wishes to develop its former storage warehouse to bring its employees into new spaces conducive to their development and creativity while making its head office the showcase of its expertise : the development of commercial spaces.
© Luc Boegly
The architects worked to reveal and stage-manage the values of the land claimed by Korus. Nature and authenticity are anchored in a project of local rural tradition, whether in the use of a formal register taking the skylights of agricultural dryers of the region or by using to the colours of adobe buildings in the valley or surrounding forests.
© Luc Boegly
The “Warehouse” is thoroughly stripped out, recyclable elements such as cladding are put into storage, leaving only the frame and roof. The facade on the south side is made up of a curtain wall from top to bottom, protected by motorized brise-soleils.
© Luc Boegly
In the centre of the Warehouse, an amphitheatre staircase serves as a forum, suitable for informal meetings as well as for assembly presentations. The amphitheatre offers spectacular views over the valley, plunges onto the double height work space. A forest of woodland-coloured cones, suspended above the desks, reduces reverberation times and weakens the perceived noise level. The acoustic studies led to the installation of large quantities of sound absorbing materials to compensate for the hardness of the materials voluntarily left unfinished and visible.
1st floor plan
© Luc Boegly
2nd floor plan
The “Beehive” is a multi-purpose and versatile space that can accommodate around forty people for all types of activities at any time of the day : welcoming visitors, formal or informal meetings, lunch-break events, relaxation, or work sessions.
© Luc Boegly
The gateway crossed, the visitor is caught up by a breath-taking panoramic view overlooking a picturesque and unspoilt valley, bordered from east to west by the Chartreuse and Vercors mountains, framing in its centre Grenoble and the Belledone range.
© Luc Boegly
A very long bar, with curved ends, a pewter top and a base lined with the cladding sheets of the warehouse, symbolizes the disruptive will of this project in which reception desk and logo of the brand are prohibited. The way to welcome visitors to the new headquarters of Korus is completely redesigned. The bar gathers all the functions necessary for its multiple uses.
© Luc Boegly
The Beehive has specific alcoves intended for creativity, manual work, stimulation of creativity and innovation and dedicated to the exhibition of materials, books, etc …
© Luc Boegly
Usable throughout the day as a place of informal exchanges, at lunch time The Beehive becomes the employees’ refectory. The kitchen is located behind the shell of an old Citroën Tub. Evoking both the truck-food and the multi-service van that crisscrossed the countryside until the late 70’s.
© Luc Boegly
The convivial spaces of the Beehive extend outside with a series of terraces, and steps oriented toward the valley, a shade-house expressing the quintessence of this incredible connection with the great landscape.
© Luc Boegly