Call for Projects on the Palais du Commerce in Rennes, France

Save this picture!

Poste Immo, real estate subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste, launches a major call for projects on the Palais du Commerce in Rennes.

When signing the “Place de la République-Palais du Commerce” agreement protocol on March 16th, 2017, Philippe Bajou, Chairman of Poste Immo and Secretary General of Le Groupe La Poste, Nathalie Appéré, Mayor of Rennes, and Christophe Mirmand, Regional Prefect of Ille et Vilaine, asserted their common will for the urban development of the iconic Place de la République square and Palais du Commerce building in Rennes, while embracing the "Rennes 2030" urban project’s ambitions.

In partnership with the City of Rennes, Poste Immo has consequently decided to open, on March 1st, an international call for projects on the future development of the Palais du Commerce. Aimed at cross-cutting teams with international references, the objective of this call for projects is to imagine the future life of the Palais du Commerce of Rennes and its immediate surroundings, while taking into account the values of the Le Groupe La Poste and the urban heritage of Rennes.  The call for projects will take place in two phases. Candidates must submit a proposal setting out their intentions mid-May 2018. The shortlisted teams will then be asked to submit their final bid by October 2018.

This call for projects is the first tangible illustration of a broader Poste Immo programme called “Patrimoine Postal en Mouvement”, which aims to rethink postal real estate differently. This call for projects also fits for the City of Rennes in the urban project “Rennes 2030” which plans the extension of the city center. At the heart of a future hub of peaceful squares and at the crossroads of shopping journeys, the rebirth of the Place de la République and the Palais du Commerce prefigure the heart of the city of tomorrow.

An ambitious project approach:
Convinced of the creative strength and collective intelligence provided by a call for projects of this size, Le Groupe La Poste and the City of Rennes wish to allow candidates to make programmatic and formal proposals that are imaginative and innovative. "Le Groupe La Poste has a history and a fully-fledged status in the urban planning landscape. La Poste’s large property assets offer a unique observatory of pluralistic lifestyles. The call for projects on the Palais du Commerce in Rennes, included in the "Patrimoine Postal en Mouvement" programme illustrates an approach to experimenting with new uses while expanding the scope of reflection to other stakeholders in order to enrich and accelerate the environmental, social, programmatic, technological or cultural processes of innovation", explains Remi Feredj, Real Estate Director of Le Groupe La Poste, Managing Director of Poste Immo.

"We are delighted to announce, alongside Poste Immo and Le Groupe La Poste, the launch of this large-scale call for projects, resulting in a commitment to an ambitious approach for the enhancement of the Palais du Commerce. We want to reinvent it so that it finds again a central role in our metropolis, at the height of the very strong expectation expressed by the Rennes for the heart of the city, especially for the future of the Place de la Republique", adds Nathalie Appéré, Mayor of Rennes.

The Palais du Commerce and the Place de la République: barycentre of the urban heart of Rennes:
The Palais du Commerce is a 12,000 m² building spread over five floors and a basement. Its location, its neoclassical architecture and the history of its construction make it one of the emblematic buildings of the city of Rennes.

A prestigious building for administrative and commercial use, it was built in several phases between 1887 and 1930. Originally intended for the installation of a Post and Telegraph Office, a stock exchange and other businesses, it is the work of two successive architects (Jean-Baptiste Martenot then Emmanuel Le Ray). With its construction, the city centre of Rennes gradually took on another dimension.

A crossing point between the North and South of the Vilaine River, along the East-West axis, the major axis of the City’s urban project, the Palais du Commerce and the Place de la République are one of the city of Rennes’ focal points. The Place de la République square is a real multimodal hub where many bus lines connect with a metro station which itself stands opposite the Rennes bicycle terminals.

Planning to transform the Palais du Commerce thus involves taking into account its symbolic dimension and the attachment of Rennes’ inhabitants to this monument of the City. The site’s format and large surface area offers a certain potential for innovation, particularly in terms of uses, in an economically, socially and culturally dynamic sector of Rennes city centre.

Download the information related to this competition here.

• Title

  Call for Projects on the Palais du Commerce in Rennes, France

• Type

  Competition Announcement (Built Projects & Masterplans)

• Organizers

  POSTE IMMO

• Registration Deadline

  May 18, 2018 10:13 AM

• Submission Deadline

  May 18, 2018 10:13 AM

• Venue

  Palais du Commerce in Rennes, France

• Price

  Free