Mantois Technology Centre | Badia Berger

The Mantois Technology Centre, located at the heart of the Mantes-Université precinct, is the first phase of the Mantes-Université development project.

The 12,000 sq. m campus regroups science and technology learning and research facilities, with a capacity to host 1500 students. This condensed research environment brings together students and researchers from different fields, creating a genuine dynamic based on “mechatronics” and its fields of expertise: automobile, home automation, and reduced mobility accompaniment.
 
The building forms an angle which serves as a focal point and provides a vertical view of the site - the building’s façade contributes in creating a vibrant public space, with its high level visibility and the balcony open to the valley below, creating a belvedere.
 
A horizontal volume reveals the diversity of the different spaces, all the while highlighting the site’s gradient.
The mineral-like quality and irregular apertures of the horizontal volume contrasts with the vertical volume suspended above the balcony, with its façade dressed in long thin timber profiles. This strong visual element placed on the corner signifies the square’s fringe.

Two envelopes, both sensitive to their environment, offer very different solutions to protect the interior of the building: the timber profiles create a vertical dynamic, while the horizontal element clad in self-levelling concrete addresses the horizontality.