The ensemble of two towers, 80 m and 40 m high, respectively, was named La Liberté. It includes office space enclosed in glazed bases of both buildings, as well as housing for "social rent" - 120 three-room apartments in 15 variants and, in total, 45 subtypes of planning.
The apartments are located in large blocks highlighted in color: the 22-storey tower A is made up of two such parts, erected on top of each other, in 10-storey B it is one. In addition to color, the facades are enlivened by polished steel plates installed perpendicular to its surface, reflecting sunlight into the interior of the apartments.
But the most interesting thing about the project is its compliance with the "Intensive City" program: the Groningen authorities are trying to avoid the "sprawl" of its territory, the proliferation of suburbs and the accompanying deterioration of the natural environment. Therefore, it was decided to erect new structures as tightly as possible and, if possible, create a mixed development.
And on the outskirts of the city, along the highway serving one of the borders of Groningen, they decided to return to the urban planning ideas of modernism: to erect only high-rise buildings, which would preserve around the existing and create new green zones available to all citizens (the Perrault complex is flanked from the north and south by two created im sada - ecological and "for meditation"). In addition to the French architect, multi-storey buildings in this part of the city were designed by UNStudio and Mecanoo.
N. F.
