L ’Arbrisseau Social Center

The social center L’ Arbrisseau in Lille-South is situated at the heart of a neighborhood being totally redeveloped after years of social and economic dormancy. Political ambition is strong, and the heterogeneous urban context offers great potential. Here neighborhood life is predominant: people are born in L’ Arbrisseau and can spend their lives there. The aim of the project was to mark this urban renewal and embody a certain spirit of neighborhood.

The building was designed and built with the residents of the neighborhood and the city in mind. The users had expressed wishes that have found their place in the final design, from the more anecdotal to the more metaphorical. They wanted an aquarium and a multipurpose room, but also a tree to anchor the symbolism of their neighborhood that translates as “Shrub”: they will have a tree, a tree of life 12 meters high on which is nestled, at each level, a terrace, and where a gazebo lies hidden at its peak.

The building is organized in a spiral around a central atrium. In this w ay each age group is connected by the high ceilings, reflected by strong links of unique spaces. These high ceilings in the libraries also permit the deployment of seating. Variety of use is conducive to the life of a social c entre and is encouraged.

The building vertically superimposes different designs and frees up the greatest garden possible at its feet. By stretching the height, it also gains visibility and status. The atrium, a founding element of the structure, welcomes the services and vertical circulation at its centre while supporting the building. This concrete core supports the structural forces that transverse it and the wrenching force of the girders is carried from one part of the design to the other. By its all-mineral massiveness, it also evokes the “catiches” or chalk quarries that are so characteristic of this area.
An outdoor promenade, a wooden deck, wraps around the building and offers a landing to each age group - a terrace.

Users can access activities outside and enjoy the roof of the building. Here one finds a real gazebo from which emerge views of the neighborhood of L’ Arbrisseau. The skin of natural aluminum and glass reinforces the unique volume of the social center of L’ Arbrisseau. One discovers here and there picture windows and openings providing light and views, guaranteeing users the greatest visual and thermal comfort in summer and winter. This unitary coating also contributes to its magnetism: the building catches the light, fixes the sun’s rays and sparkles. Its helical shape, its staircase that wraps around the sides, its aluminum cladding like a spacecraft all create ruptures and contrasts with the rather disjointed urban environment in which it now occupies an essential position.