BABCOCK, THE FACTORY OF CULTURES

The project enhances the existing factory structures by highlighting their raw materiality. The architectural principle is based on the “box-within-a-box” concept, where smaller structures inhabit the vast industrial volumes. This strategy allows for the creation of efficient spaces while preserving the unheated main halls.
The north and east facades of the former industrial site are completely renovated, with the addition of strategically placed openings to generate transparency and visual dialogue with the public space. The main entrance is marked by a stainless steel roof that overhangs the existing structures without touching them, asserting the project’s presence within the urban fabric. Seventeen meters wide and bathed in natural light, the Babcock Passage runs through all the halls and connects the site’s various activities. A true backbone of the project, this covered interior street creates a central space, a “common reservoir” where cultural, sporting, and commercial programming can converge and interact. The passageway transforms the site experience: it offers a new way to explore the brownfield, discovering its volumes and secrets. It also affirms its urban dimension by reconnecting the brownfield to its surroundings, notably via the Sainte-Foix passageway, the Rue Émile-Zola, and the RER commuter rail line, thus contributing to improved pedestrian and cycling connections and smoother traffic flow.