Lyon Confluence Mixed-Use Quarter / David Chipperfield Architects

The centre of Lyon is located on a peninsula created by the Rhône and Saône rivers as they converge. The southern tip – La Confluence – has largely been used for industry although, over the last ten years, it has begun to be redeveloped. David Chipperfield Architects was appointed to coordinate three blocks with eleven buildings within a masterplan by Herzog & de Meuron for the second phase of the city centre's extension into La Confluence. This role entailed adapting the wider masterplan to the specific site and proposed programme as well as developing strategies for the landscape and the general massing, organisation and façade design of the buildings. The process involved mediating between and coordinating with the city, clients, sustainability consultants, landscape architects and the other architects involved in the site. Regular collaborative workshops were held to test and develop the proposals.