ONE, TWO, TREES | Archiring Studio

PROGRAM: Offices, Open Spaces, House
LOCATION: Béja - TUNISIA
AREA: 1800 sqm
CLIENT: Tunisian Ministry of Interior
STATUT: Wining Competition entry!

When we visited the site and the city of Beja, one thing was obvious: we must keep the trees! In order not to distort the abundantly green area and offer future employees the opportunity to work in an embedded environment in the countryside. Another important point was the sloping roofs of the city, characteristic forms of the region.

The project is structured as follows: a transparent and framed southeast corner, and an opaque and irregular northwest angle. The southeast corner, overlooking public roads bounding the site, consists in framed glass walls. They reflect the greenery and the surrounding area. The play of reflections and transparencies multiplies the sensation of trees and stumps the physical limits of the building.

Vegetation and solar protection, temper the impact of the sun during the hot periods of the year. On the other side a uniform and irregular shell, following withdrawals required by regulation, define the shape of the project on its northern and western boundaries, and on the roof. This roof, on its south side, will receive solar panels that will ensure the project’s energy needs. This shell, made of changing metal panels, turns to form the slab of the first level, and thus gathers higher levels. By separating these levels and the ground floor, the project is floating between the trees and detached from the ground.

A patio is created encompassing the trees present in the middle of the site. Associated with great holes in the metallic shape, it allows the penetration of the vegetation within the project, in addition to its role in the energy performance of the project. The existing road, which runs through the project, will be kept as an access to the project and a ramp to the basement is created while keeping the vegetation.