Bernard Tschumi to build research centre in Paris-Saclay

Bernard Tschumi Urbanistes Architectes has won the design competition for a new research centre at the Université Paris-Sud, a project being realised in a public-private partnership arrangement. Three large European construction firms and three noted architectural teams – Bernard Tschumi, Herzog & de Meuron and MVRDV – participated in the two-year competition procedure. Once completed, the education and research centre for the life science disciplines of biology, pharmaceutics and chemistry will be one of the largest research establishments in France.

The "METRO Centre" is to have teaching facilities, offices and research labs as well as restaurants and social spaces.  Tschumi's architectural concept envisages six buildings connected by a "Rue Intérieure" – a ground-level internal street. Four large auditoria, a museum and spacious public areas are placed in the part of the building at the centre of the campus, and the research labs are located to the east of this and the teaching facilities to the west. While the façades to the north open up almost completely, the elevations to the south, east and west are to be built out of white precast concrete parts. The whole complex is to house over 4,500 people on 74,000 square metres of space.