Construction is well underway for our design of Accor's new complex of hotels on the VGE Boulevard of Abidjan,Ivory Coast. Taking cue from the tilt of the city grid against that of the sun's path, Novotel features prefab shading panels that ramp up from one elevation to the next, catching the light and rendering the built masses into scaleless platonic wholes. Acting as a passive approach to temperature regulation, and saving on energy throughout the year, the sculptural silhouette also eliminates visually most of the slabs to give the building its status of an urban landmark, despite being only 18 stories. The skin is made of white ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)and cast in molds that are cut by our 7-axis robot arm. While the Novotel is extremely mineral,the facing Adagio reads as a vast vertical forest, bursting with lush variety of native trees that extend from a shared courtyard with its pool and decks.This graft of vegetation not only muffles the bustling sounds of the city, but presents the guests with the extended choice of sea or forest.The complex presents a spectacular opposition between mineral and vegetal, thriving on Abidjan’s rich history and natural setting.
Bio Bits to Atoms is an international Architecture office led by Guillaume Crédoz. It is based on unique creative agility, backed by 20 years of experience, to provide adequate strategies for beautiful built solutions. We produce meaningful buildings, that we design to the detail. In our large workshop we use advanced digital fabrication techniques in order to implement and test our creative propositions. Known as the « Double Process »: Compared to regular architecture offices, we add an extra process to our task: we build scale models & mock-ups with real materials and techniques of our design.
Other prizes Best Emergent Designer 2017 Harper Bazaar Notable Furniture & Lighting Award Core77 Design Awards 2019 Architecture Masterprize Award Winner in Architectural Design / Restoration & Renovation
