EuroRennes, the architectural project for the future near-station district introduced

Mr Christian Roulleau, Samsic Group Founding President, has just announced that the winning project will be managed by four agencies:

Julien de Smedt (Copenhagen and Brussels), Stéphane Maupin (Paris), Maurer et Gilbert Architects (Rennes) and Think Tank (Paris).

The 32,000m² real estate programme includes four buildings which will cater for a combination of business and residential needs and will encourage well-being, exchange and sharing. 

- One 26-floor high-rise building for 180 housing units, 28 of which will be social home ownership units.

- One mixed-use building for an employment agency (of key importance to the Group), a hotel and Rennes' very first panoramic restaurant with a 40-meter view across the city.

- Samsic Group's future offices will be located in two eight- and nine- floor buildings connected by a joint atrium.

- One building for 33 housing units and ground-floor shops.

A future-oriented project

During a press conference on 9 July, Mr Christian Roulleau outlined the reasons which drove him to launch such a daring project: "We aim to both remain close to our Breton roots and also be as close as possible to the arteries which lead us to the large cities in which we are present. The ambitious train station-district programme reflects our development strategy and will enable us to create employment and contribute to developing Rennes' attractiveness and influence. We deliberately geared the project to the future and diversity."

A responsible and sustainable environment

For Mr Thierry Geffroy, Samsic Group CEO, the real estate project must be in keeping with our values. "It goes without saying that our Corporate Social Responsibility programme is in step with our transformation strategy and guided us in our choice of project because, at Samsic, we are committed to sustainability. We are building for the next generations and will ensure that living together and the environment are key factors in this programme."

A concrete environmental approach was central to the real estate complex design brief.

Revegetation is key to the project and the green areas will house communal areas: a shared plateau garden halfway up the building; a roof garden for the housing units; integrated winter gardens in the office facades; and an indoor garden waterfall on the facade of the mixed-use building at the centre of the Blériot complex.

The entire programme is based on very low energy consumption and a minimum carbon footprint.

Construction is planned to begin at the end of 2020 and the complex will be ready as of 2024.