[ Atelier 9.81 ] Pedestrian Crossing

Atelier 9.81 of France haveinserted a perforated canopy in between a row of houses to create acovered pedestrian walkway in Tourcoing, France.

The structure is made from a composite of aluminium and plastic with a series of folds to create a roof over the passage.

Graphics are applied to this surface, directing visitors between thenew bus station on one side, and a tram and subway station on the other.

Photographs are copyright Julien Lanoo.

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The following information is from the architects:

Covered pedestrian crossing, downtown Tourcoing (fr)

Geoffrey Galand + Cédric Michel, associated architects
Atelier9.81

Atelier 9.81 of France have completed a bright red covered pedestrian walkway in Tourcoing, France.

Downtown Tourcoing is currently at the heart of an extensiverestructuring, launched a few years ago. All public spaces, streets andsquares are being fully renovated, and a large shopping mall with movietheatres will be inaugurated soon. As part of this project, the Metro,tram and bus station come together to offer a true multimodal system.

The project of a covered pedestrian crossing for downtown Tourcoingis born of this new direct relationship between transportation modes(with the bus station on one side and the trams and subway on of theother), between the Place du Doctor Roux and the Place Charles etAlbert Roussel. The pedestrian crossing will fit into a row oftownhouses of the same style, taking the place of one of them. Bybreaking thus with the alignment, the pedestrian crossing assertsitself visually, with the orange-red hues used on the open gables andby the constitution of a retro glassed facade, lit up at night.

Stepping into the void thus constituted, the project consists inerecting a canopy representing an urban origami; Fine sheet of graphicAlucobond, a support for the signage designed with this project inmind. Spread out over a 20-meter-long, 4.5-meter-wide area, this sheetreveals numerous complex folds and height variations, from which itderives its uniqueness.

The covering ends in a notable slope, signalling the pedestriancrossing from the Tram terminus and the entrance to the shopping malland Metro. The crossing’s floor is made of gray granite pavement, anextension of the planned layout for all downtown public spaces.

Project management: Atelier 9.81 – urbanist architects, GeoffreyGaland + Cédric Michel – architects, Lucie Vandenbunder – projectchief, IOSISgroup – BE generalist, Les Produits de l’Épicerie – graphicdesigners
Project owner: SEM Ville Renouvelée
Project Information: Covered pedestrian crossing between two public squares
Project surface: 150 M2 of covered crossing
Budget: 400,000 euros (excluding taxes)
Planning: Delivery in September 2010

from  dezeen