ITER, Complementary Buildings – CEA CADARACHE / Juan Herreros Arquitectos

Juan Herreros (from former Abalos & Herreros) won the 2nd place on the international competition for the new builings of the CEA Cadarache Research Center. Long buildings reduce the impact of the construction in order to keep the forest density.

From the architect´s description:

The project consists of five pieces of architecture located in a forest rich in biological activity. We have con-
cluded of our visit to the site, that the best option is to inhabit the forest without exceeding their height, making architecture as a new species that respects, protects and enhances the forest, until create a new balanced system in which buildings and trees are sharing rights and obligations. With this we will not competing with the size nor the presence of a large reactor or reduce the value of the ecosystem of a wooded garden at the foot of the buildings.

Our deployment strategy is compromised to build without altering the conditions of the forest, to inhabit the forest without violence creating a symbiotic architecture with its microclimate and its density. To do so, we are disclaiming to open large breaks on the continuity of natural cycles and are proposing to build linear buildings of optimum and constant width that occupies corridors from which have been lifted only the required trees, allowing the maximum proximity of the remaining facades. The original density of the forest will always be present and architecture appears filtered through the foliage.

International Private Competition: Second Place
Client: C.E.A.
Architect: Juan Herreros Arquitectos
Project Director: Juan Herreros Guerra, Jens Richter
Collaborators: Verónica Meléndez, Paola Simone
Structure: INTECSA-INARSA S.A, INGENIERIE STUDIO S.A.S
Sustainability: CENER (Florencio Manteca)
Graphics: Jens Richter
Constructed Area: 23,410 sqm