This multi-storey car park in Soissons, France, by Paris firm Jacques Ferrier Architectures has an undulating facade of vertical timbers.

Lez Yeux Verts, which can house 600 cars, forms part of a development of former barracks into a business park.

The building has a concrete structure, galvanised-steel framework, and is clad in vertical spruce timbers that vary in angle and spacing to create a ripple effect.

The timber facade is punctuated by eye-shaped openings that afford views over the town, and behind which new planting will eventually grow to form hanging gardens.

On each floor a different image has been superimposed onto a giant cube to denote the level.

Photos are by Jacques Ferrier Architectures/photo Luc Boegly

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Les yeux verts

Architectural description

Located in Soissons close by the famous Saint Jean-de-la Vigne abbey, the new 600 space capacity “Les Yeux Verts” multi-storey car park is fundamental to the project redeveloping the Gouraud barracks into a modern business park.

Its presence contributes to the transformation of the site and is one of its federating landmark elements. With its concrete structure, galvanised steel framework and timber cladding, the car park takes the form of a contemporary yet highly restrained urban infrastructure.

The architectural style of the building is based on a clearly affirmed structure overlaid by a pleated openwork timber envelope that lightly and delicately clads the entire car park. On each level, a slit opens up in the envelope to provide views from the inside over the urban landscape of the town.

From the outside, these “green eyes” open widely to reveal hanging gardens that delicately spread into the surrounding façade.

Subtle visual variations have been created using a single retified spruce slat module. This is achieved by adjusting the rhythm and angling of the slats, stepping away from the façades, using solids and voids, and incorporating light and transparency into the construction. These elements create dynamic, vibrant façades that give the car park a strong image within the town’s urban fabric.

The signage takes the form of a series of ten photographic images (one per half-level) that, borrowing from the “memory” game used by Charles Eames, allows users to mentally associate the area where their cars are parked with an atmosphere, a sensation and a visual reference point.

Architectural team : Jacques Ferrier Architectures
Architect : Jacques Ferrier
Project Manager : Stéphane Vigoureux
Team : Emmanuel Coudert (project leader), Corentin Lespagnol (image conception), David Juhel, Harold Chaveneau
Client : Communauté d’Agglomération du Soissonnais

City : Soissons, France
Programme: parking, 600 spaces
Competition: projet lauréat en 2007 / winning project in 2007
Completion: mars 2010 / March 2010
Area: 12 250 m²
Cost : 6.6 M Euros

Consultants :

Landscape designer: Agence TER
Signage: Laboratoire IRB Ruedi Baur
Structural engineers: HDM Ingénierie 
Utilities engineers: SOGETI Ingénierie
Photos credits: ©Jacques Ferrier architectures/photo Luc Boegly

See also:

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Choisy-le-Roi bridge by Jacques Ferrier	Aluchair by Jacques Ferrier for Ligne Roset Contracts	French Pavilion by Jacques Ferrier