14 Nov 2018
Europe’s largest wooden superstructure will rise in France
BY Andrew Manns
A team led by French architecture firm Triptyque has designed Ecotone, a mixed-use development projected to become one of the largest wooden structures in the world.
The €300m ($340m, £261.5m) project, which will feature biophilic and biomimetic elements – such as terraced hillsides inspired by bird and bee nests – will span 81,870 sq m and comprise a hotel and multipurpose sports hall, as well as fitness centres, restaurants, retail shops, and offices.
Other design practices attached to the project include Duncan Lewis Scape, OXO Architectes, and Parc Architectes.
Developed by Compagnie de Phalsbourg in collaboration with Hertel Investment, Ecotone is part of the "Invent the Metropolis of Greater Paris" programme, a scheme which will see the Parisian suburb of Arcueil test the ways urban neighbourhoods can be efficiently integrated with nature.
Commenting on the plan, Triptyque said they intended to make a "transition zone", a "link between the city and nature" that serves as an environmental "interface".
Ecotone is slated to be completed in 2023.
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