Located on the Saclay Plateau, an internationally renowned scientific cluster, Danone Group’s new Research & Innovation Center is certified as a low-carbon building, optimizing the quality of working life and future research and development, testing and training. make it possible. innovation.
Architecturally, In’Cube embodies the unique meeting of two visions. One is the vision of the Danone Group, committed at the international level to innovation, health through food, environmental sustainability and the quest for the best quality of life and work. And that of the Arte Charpentier office spatializes this vision by integrating advanced considerations on technical and regulatory aspects, structural hybridization, material sustainability, reuse channels and the circular economy. We were able to take responsibility for the environment and create an environmentally responsible society. creative architecture.
The new Research & Innovation Center houses more than 600 of Danone’s world-class teams in life sciences, nutrition, consumer experience, pilots and product design, driving tomorrow’s food revolution and food technology. He has ambitions to promote collaboration with startups and accelerate innovation. We will work with consumers and partners on food and health.
In’Cube is entirely designed to promote and develop new methods and ways of working at the heart of R&I. In’Cube is symbiotic with an ecosystem of suppliers, start-ups and consumers, leveraging a world-class university environment located within the Paris-Saclay campus to address food challenges.
Building architecture provides transparency from public spaces, allowing the discovery of entire industrial processes, microfactories and the activities that take place there. At 24 meters high, the In’Cube fits perfectly into a rectangular base that is 90 meters long and 75 meters wide. It is characterized by a U-shape arranged around a bright open space with hut roofs and timbers that provide zenith lighting.
The overhanging piazza space offers exceptional views with panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. This central atrium facilitates meetings and incorporates the norms of a village square. This atrium comes to suspend community life around various events, vertical circulation, and surrounding corridors. Animate that volume and distribute the different grounds.
Given the natural environment of the Saclay campus, green spaces are another fundamental element of the InCube project, whose landscape design combines both open-ground landscaping and beautiful garden terraces. This landscape project resonates with the area, which features a historic network of waterways that are the foundation of the new district’s urban fabric. At In’Cube, water is taken care of from the roof to the ground, with an open-ground rain garden managing rainwater before it drains into the neighborhood gutters.
Plants are at the heart of the project, with 2,900m2 of vegetation, including a 1,100m2 garden terrace with an orchard, and above all, a 1,000m2 garden outside, a true relaxation area for employees and even a warehouse garden. I’m here. for rainwater.
architect: Arte Charpentier
Architect responsible for design and construction: Arte Charpentier
Associate Architect: Abbes Tahir
Architectural Project Managers: Alexandre Maneval and Said Njeim
Interior Design Project Manager: Stéphane Quigna
Landscape Project Manager: Nathalie Leroy
Project Team: Abderahman Ek Chik, Adele Clan-Cassagne, Audrey Cyprien, Benjamin Mahhue, Karine Sillet, Francesco Ballarin, Guillaume Delfesc, Jean-Frédéric Roco, Karim Hashemi, Laura Richard, Longway – Chen, Luc Jouy, Mathilde Chalet, Nazim Bellbridia, Neil Milliet, Olivier Carrara
photograph: Christophe Vartan