![Rectorate Office Building / Hauvette & Associés - Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/500d/f490/28ba/0d66/2500/1d19/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1361390500)
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Architects: Hauvette & Associés
- Area: 5520 m²
- Year: 2007
Text description provided by the architects. The project is designed around a rehabilitated 1980s building whose white external walls had been entirely repainted. Organized around a patio, the main building containing the new rectorate is a rectangular object surrounding the rehabilitated building. Each of its faces has two steel and local wood "drawers", one containing the raised rectorate offices, the other the computer services.
![Rectorate Office Building / Hauvette & Associés - Image 3 of 14](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/500d/f49a/28ba/0d66/2500/1d1b/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1360813681)
The project reinterprets a certain "tropical" architectural tradition that has always successfully combined imported components and local materials. As a result, this office building, which uses sustainable, recyclable and renewable materials is, on the one hand, factory-manufactured, delivered in containers and assembled on site and, on the other hand, uses carpenters working with the magnificent regional woods that are available.
![Rectorate Office Building / Hauvette & Associés - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/500d/f4ac/28ba/0d66/2500/1d1f/medium_jpg/stringio.jpg?1360813693)
To reduce electrical air conditioning to a minimum, the building is designed as a sort of sunlight control and management system. The elevations of the main building are clad with a perforated stainless steel skin that subtly shades the windows. The faces of the "drawers" incorporate screens assembled from rot-proof bebeeru wood. The patios, protected by large aluminium and local wood sunbreakers, introduce a soft, relaxing light into the surrounding offices.
![Rectorate Office Building / Hauvette & Associés - Fence, Steel](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/500d/f4a8/28ba/0d66/2500/1d1e/newsletter/stringio.jpg?1360813690)
The rationality of the project is made apparent through its strict modularity, with each partition perpendicular to the elevation being repositionable along a 48 cm grid. The pleasure of working in the building has been accentuated by the incorporation of fast-growing plants into the architecture, as well as attractive species of trees planted in the gardens and avenue trees leading to the car park.
![Rectorate Office Building / Hauvette & Associés - Steel, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/500d/f4b6/28ba/0d66/2500/1d21/medium_jpg/stringio.jpg?1360813701)