BACKGROUND
The night-time development of the Malakoff district takes the form of an ordered, functional grid. This framework deploys a high-quality, homogeneous veil of light over the entire district. It’s a necessary light, without overdoing it, which ensures safety of use without giving the district a specific nocturnal character, distinguishing between road and soft-mode uses, and guaranteeing them a quality of practice.
ISSUES
The evolution of uses and practices towards crepuscular, even nocturnal, timeframes call for particular attention to be paid to these night-time periods. Especially as the contact between the user and his environment is directly contrasted and prolonged compared to exclusively road use. Around the station, a classic pedestrian area, this urban reclamation is being carried out specifically with a view to shared public spaces: the partial pedestrianization of the Malakoff district, the transformation of the Quai Malakoff into the Saint Félix beach, or the recent developments on the northern forecourt.
FOR A NOCTURNAL MOSAIC
This forecourt combines and integrates the qualities of adjoining spaces, each with its own function. Like a mosaic, it is composed of tesserae: fragments or autonomous places which, when arranged within a defined perimeter, form a whole.
The nocturnal challenge lies in interweaving these places and their uses in such a way that each remains identifiable and relevant, while contributing to the emergence of an overall identity that transcends them. This is the art of a nocturnal mosaic, which, through the materials, reflections, colors, shadows and flashes of the ensembles that make it up, reveals its multiple facets to attract, welcome, orient, entertain and reassure in a single gesture.
The overall composition of the project is developed at different scales: the station, the passengers, the seating and the ground.
The design is both gentle and playful, comfortable and warm. A nocturnal mosaic where each space finds its place in a more generous identity.
To create a visual transition for passengers from the station to the forecourt (and vice versa), wall lights on the front of the station are integrated into the structure of the forecourt, composed of waves and arches, and take on a dual role:
1. Install a linear light with a color temperature of 3000K, providing a luminous base for the station, and ensuring the visual transition from inside to outside.
2. Illuminate the forecourt from the façade in a warmer 2700K hue, continuing the nocturnal transition of visitors as they make their way into the city,
COMPOSITION
In order to create a visual transition for passengers from the station to the forecourt (and vice versa), wall lights on the front of the station are integrated into the forecourt structure of waves and arches, taking on a dual role:
1. Providing a luminous
2. 3000K base for the station ensuring the visual transition from inside to outside.
3. Illuminating the forecourt in a warmer 2700K hue, continuing the nocturnal transition
Then a colourful mosaic welcomes visitors: a chromatic composition unfolds across the forecourt, in green, red and blue, acting as focal points along the square.
The supports are identical to those on the northern forecourt, and are installed on the outer edge of the forecourt: spotlights equipped with special glass enliven the forecourt, while a rear lantern illuminates the bus lane.
The third stage aims to accentuate the human scale, and contribute to a friendly, neighborhood-style atmosphere. To achieve this, lounge lamps are integrated into the tables designed by Atelier Ruelle, and are switched on by a presence detection module in a warm 2200K light. These lamps have a family resemblance with the station’s roof.
Finally, to accompany the breakout areas, 2200K linear LED lights are integrated into the underside of the seats, whether curved or straight. They encourage the use of these break areas, and emphasize the perspective towards the canal.
The station forecourt has been successfully transformed. This new space offers visitors vast areas in which to meet, wait and stroll. From now on, when you arrive on the South Station forecourt, you enter another universe, and the journey can begin…
