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For many years the Place Marché Saint-Honoré
was occupied by a multi-storey car park. The project to revitalise
the square, in which Simon Platt intervened as architect in
charge for the Taller de Arquitectura Ricardo Bofill, resulted
in the demolition of the car park and its reconstruction in
five underground levels. This allowed the construction of
a new seven-storey building accommodating the Paribas banking
headquarters, offices, shops, a police station and other facilities.
The commercial building effectively recovers the existing
street axis of Rue Marché Saint-Honoré between
Rue Rivoli and the Opera by means of an atrium which runs
longitudinally the entire length of the building like a pedestrian
street.
From an architectural point of view the building is a synthesis
between a classical tendency of architecture and high tech,
taking advantage of the most innovative modern construction
techniques. It consists of two 7-storey blocks divided by
the atrium, covered by a transparent roof and intercommunicated
by catwalks. The complex is closed from the exterior by a
double glass façade. The exterior façade, separated
from the interior by a 60 cm gap, is made with the Pilkington
Planar glazing system, without frames and supported by a steel
suspension system and sealed with silicon joints.
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