# RENNES | Projects & Construction



## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Rennes* is the capital and most populous city of Brittany in western France with a metro area of more than 727 000 inhabitants. Despite not being the largest, it is one of the most dynamic (both demographically and economically) and is considered to be one of the most liveable city in the country.

Before going into recent projets though, let's take a look at the architectural context of the city and the historical buildings from the medieval houses to the post-war and contemporary architecture. The city had several important reconstructions over the years, the most notable being the one in the 18th century after a great fire and in the 50's / 60's after the war, changing radically the aspect of some districts.

Photos are taken from the city wikipedia page unless specified otherwise.









_Medieval timber frame houses in the city center. _









_The "portes Mordelaises ", remains of the city ramparts. _









_Rue Saint-Melaine with the Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine basilica in the background. _









_The couvent des Jacobins, rehabilitated in 2018 and now the city convention center. _









_Parlement de Bretagne, one of the first building built in stone and one of the only to survive the Great Fire (ironically, an other fire in 1994 destroyed parts of the building. It has been renovated since). _









_After the Great Fire of 1720, destroyed parts of the city were rebuilt in classical style like the buildings around the Parlement de Bretagne plaza. _Source









_Palais Saint-Georges. _









_The city has numerous "hôtels particuliers", one of the most notable example being the Hôtel de Blossac. _









_City Hall, completed in 1730. _









_Opera house, inaugurated in 1836 in front of the city hall. _









_Rennes Cathedral, rebuilt in the 19th century in classical style. _Source









_Piscine Saint-Georges, one of the finest example of Art Deco in France. _Source









_Palais du Commerce, former stock exchange, achieved in 1929. _Source









_The city has two iconic towers which forms its skyline. The Horizons, built in 1970, is the tallest building in the city with 99m and was one of the first highrise in France. _Source









_Built in 1975, the tour de l'Eperon with a height of 98 m is the second tallest building in Rennes. _Source









_Le Mabilay, former telecommunications centre, rehabilitated in 2014. The pylon reaches 83 m. _Source









_The city has one subway line since 2002 (at the time of its completion, Rennes was the smallest city in the world to have a subway network until Lausanne opened its own in 2008) and one more under construction planned to open in 2021. _









_Les Champs Libres is a cultural center with a museum, library and science center opened in 2006. The building was designed by Christian de Portzamparc. _Source









_Cap Mail, luxury apartments by Jean Nouvel, delivered in 2015. _Source


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

There are plenty more things to see and other wonderful buildings in the city but it's time to see what the near future holds.

Boosted by the opening of the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (high-speed line) in 2017, putting the city at less than 1h30 from Paris, and the new metro line, an important amount of projects are being developed all around the city.

The most important of them is EuroRennes business district located around the main station, just renovated. Planned to be completed by 2025, it will contain 125 500 m² of office space and 116 000 m² of housing as well as shops, restaurants and other services, totalizing 300 000 m² of additional floor space. The centerpiece of the district will be the future 90 m high residential tower Féval.











I will present them more in details in future posts but this is an overview of the main ongoing projects in the city :









_Ilot Féval_









_Ilot Beaumont_









_Identity_









_Line B Rennes Metro_









_Palais du commerce renovation project_









_Tour Aiguillon_









_Ascension Paysagère_


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## LinkD-2ME (Nov 22, 2018)

Nice city


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## Mephisto22 (Jan 18, 2017)

Nantes is the real capital and most populous city of Britanny. We have the castle of the dukes of Britanny.


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## Akai (Nov 16, 2011)

Mephisto22 said:


> Nantes is the real capital and most populous city of Britanny. We have the castle of the dukes of Britanny.


Nantes is Pays de la Loire Region and Rennes Brittany Region:


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## Mephisto22 (Jan 18, 2017)

That's just since 1956. The Pays de la Loire region was a ad hoc creation for economic purposes to balance western France. Its the result of the fusion of Anjou, Maine, Vendée (wich was historically in Poitou) and Nantes and its surroundings.
But historically, and culturally, Nantes is in Britanny. Nantes as been officially in Britanny between 850 and 1956 a.d. So for more than a thousand years, Nantes was in Britanny until the parisian government arbitrarily decided in 1956 to take it out of Britanny for the sole purpose of creating this whole new region of Pays de la Loire.

For centuries Nantes was the capital of Britanny. The dukes even made their main castle in the city. Rennes was made capital of Britanny... AFTER Britanny was ceded to France, so it was the king's government that decided to move the administrative capital from Nantes to Rennes. But for the Bretons, the real capital was the capital of their dukes before Britanny was ceded to France, Nantes.

And even after Britanny was a part of the kingdom of France, Nantes was still in Britanny as you can see on this map of the old French provinces.

So in the end, Nantes is the real capital of Britanny, and the most populous city of Britanny. Pays de la Loire region has no history.










May Britanny be reunited again !!!!


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## Mephisto22 (Jan 18, 2017)

[


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## Wayden21 (Nov 1, 2014)

Mephisto22 said:


> That's just since 1956. The Pays de la Loire region was a ad hoc creation for economic purposes to balance western France. Its the result of the fusion of Anjou, Maine, Vendée (wich was historically in Poitou) and Nantes and its surroundings.
> But historically, and culturally, Nantes is in Britanny. Nantes as been officially in Britanny between 850 and 1956 a.d. So for more than a thousand years, Nantes was in Britanny until the parisian government arbitrarily decided in 1956 to take it out of Britanny for the sole purpose of creating this whole new region of Pays de la Loire.
> 
> For centuries Nantes was the capital of Britanny. The dukes even made their main castle in the city. Rennes was made capital of Britanny... AFTER Britanny was ceded to France, so it was the king's government that decided to move the administrative capital from Nantes to Rennes. But for the Bretons, the real capital was the capital of their dukes before Britanny was ceded to France, Nantes.
> ...


You are aware that nobody cares AT ALL, right?


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## Mephisto22 (Jan 18, 2017)

Well you're not from Britanny so of course you won't be concerned but thousands of people actually care about this. A little of history does not hurt, the people who don't know Britanny might get confused. There would be no controversy and demonstration on the streets of both cities for that matter otherwise. No need to be that rude, if you don't take interest in a subject doesn't mean it's the case for everybody.
And actually you cared enough to answer so....


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

I didn't mean to start a debate with this little sentence lol. I was talking about the administrative region of course. So let's go back to Rennes, a city among others in Brittany !


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Ilot Féval & Blériot*
Specific thread (fr)

*Location* : EuroRennes
*Status* : Proposed
*Estimated completion* : 2024
*Type* : Mixed-use
*Floor area* : 32 000 m²
*Height* : max. 82 m
*Floors* : max. 26
*Architects* : JDSA / Stéphane Maupin / Maurer et Gilbert / Think Tank

The project contains 4 buildings including a 26 floors residential tower, offices, an hotel and a panoramic restaurant. 


































































The design of the tower takes inspiration from the city's architecture :


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

And these were the non-selected projects.

*Marc Mimram + Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés + Line Up Architecture* *(finalist) :











































Sou Fujimoto + Dream + A/LTA* *:
















*


















*Jakob+Mac Farlane + Jacques Boucheton Architectes + Atelier L2* *:



























Bruther + Christian Kerez + David Cras :
























*


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## Jutcho (Aug 25, 2004)

To me, the last project is by far the most interesting. The broken vertical lines of the tower are a real treat and furthermore, we don't have all that green stuff on every floors that we can observe on the others projects. I can't stand anymore all those hypocritical architects who put trees everywhere, so everybody believe it's an eco friendly building!! But a tower by its nature is already an eco friendly building, by the saving of ground floor space.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

Towers also have flaws on an ecological level but a few trees here and there sure won't change much. 

I think that all the projects were nice (except for the third non selected-one by Jakob + MacFarlane & co which is a bit too brutal) but in the end I believe that the laureate project is overall the best one because it takes into consideration its environment and it's something that you will be able to assimilate to the city, not just a contemporary tower that you could find anywhere else. Also, even though the towers looks good in the others, I only like the low-rises in the laureate and finalist projects.

I forgot to post this diagram, showing the integration of the tower into the city's skyline. As you can see, it will have the same impact than the Horizons or the Eperon tower, despite being smaller, because of the higher ground level. Due to the nearby airport, there are several locations in Rennes which are restricted in height, including this one. This explains why the tower is not taller.


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## Sandblast2 (Feb 20, 2020)

What a beautiful city! I've driven around the edge of Rennes many times on the way to St Jean de Monts in the Vendee.... must have a detour in to the city on our next visit to France.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Renaissance

Location* : Centre
*Status* : Proposed renovation / extension
*Estimated completion* : 2025
*Type* : Mixed-use
*Floor area* : 18 000 m²
*Architects* : MVRDV / Bernard Desmoulin

Renovation project of the Palais du Commerce which will introduce new shops, restaurants, offices, a hotel, a cooking school, a LEGO museum and other leisure spaces. In addition, an extension with a wood structure and a façade composed of black textured ceramic and opaque glass panels will be built on the eastern side, connected with the historic building via a glass gallery. The place de la République in front of the main building will also be refurbished as well as the rue du Pré Botté behind, which will become pedestrian-only.

A few modifications will also be done to the existing building (that you can see in the first post of this thread) like the replacement of windows and tiles of the roof, the connection of the roofs with new passages covered with glass, the removal of the chimneys, the creation of glass storefronts in the arches of the arcade as well as the addition of a grand staircase in front of the building. Work is expected to start in 2022.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Rennes Multimodal Hub

Location* : Centre
*Status* : Complete renovation
*Estimated completion* : 2020
*Type* : Rail station
*Floor area* : 13 000 m²
*Architects* : Arep / FGP (u)

Along with the opening of the Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high speed line, Rennes rail station is being renovated to handle the increase of passenger numbers. The new building, with its roof made of ETFE (same material used for the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Beijing National Aquatics Center or more recently the Shed in New-York), has been delivered in 2019 but the totality of the project will be completed later this year while the new line B metro station will open next Spring.








































































© SNCF Gares & Connexions - AREP / Mathieu Lee Vigneau / Marc Ollivier


The "hill" in front of the station, still in progress :









































gare_tgv_rennes - Devisubox


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Ascension Paysagère

Location* : Bourg-l'Évesque - la Touche - Moulin du Comte
*Status* : Under construction
*Estimated completion* : 2022
*Type* : Residential
*Floor area* : 8 200 m²
*Floors* : 12
*Architects* : MVRDV / ALL Architectes










































Photos from June :








































Photos by Dimitri Lamour.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Identity One

Location* : Centre
*Status* : Complete
*Completion* : 2019
*Type* : Office, cinema
*Floor area* : 8 761 m² 
*Height* : 36 m
*Floors* : 9
*Architects* : Jean-Paul Viguier
















































































© Takuji Shimmura


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Identity Two & Three

Location* : Centre
*Status* : Complete / Under construction
*Completion* : 2019 / 2020
*Type* : Office
*Floor area* : 15 855 m²
*Height* : 40 m / 43 m
*Floors* : 9 x2
*Architects* : Blanchard Marsault Pondevie / Maurer et Gilbert


















































































Photos by Dimitri Lamour.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Dremmwel

Location* : Cleunay - Arsenal-Redon - Courrouze
*Status* : Under construction
*Estimated completion* : 2022
*Type* : Residential
*Floor area* : 9 207 m² 
*Height* : 51 m
*Floors* : 16
*Architects* : Marian Rubió / ITAR

Work started.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Trilogy

Location* : Sud-Gare
*Status* : Approved
*Estimated completion* : 2023
*Type* : Office, residential
*Floor area* : 24 883 m² 
*Height* : 54 m
*Floors* : 17
*Architects* : Atelier Kempe Thill / Atelier 56 S

Work is expected to start before the end of the year.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Rennes Metro Line B*















*System* : Métro de Rennes
*Status* : Under construction
*Estimated completion* : 2021
*Rolling stock* : CityVal
*Length* : 13,4 km
*Stations* : 15
*Locations* : Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande / Rennes / Cesson-Sévigné

The line will be automated and will use the NeoVal rubber-tyred rolling stock from Siemens. It will be fully underground unless a 2,4 km section (and 3 stations) in the north-east of Rennes and in Cesson-Sévigné. Initially planned for this year, the opening has been delayed to next Summer due to the pandemic.

















































































Progress on some of the stations :
























































































http://www.metro-rennes-metropole.fr/accueil/sinformer/photos

NeoVal rolling stock :








Source


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Horizons Bois

Location* : Thabor St-Hélier
*Status* : Approved
*Estimated completion* : 2022
*Type* : Residential, office
*Floor area* : 5 655 m²
*Height* : 40 m
*Floors* : 12
*Architects* : Architecture Plurielle


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Urban Quartz

Location* : Centre, 26 rue de l'Alma
*Status* : Complete
*Completion* : 2019
*Type* : Office
*Floor area* : 13 384 m²
*Architects* : a/LTA / Hamonic + Masson

















































































Urban Quartz | Hamonic+Masson & Associés | Archello


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

ZeusUpsistos said:


> *Rennes Metro Line B*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*Cleunay*

















*Mabilais

















Colombier

































Gares

















Saint-Germain

















Sainte-Anne
























 

Jules Ferry*
















http://www.metro-rennes-metropole.fr/accueil/sinformer/photos


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Conservatoire de Rennes

Location* : Le Blosne
*Status* : Under construction
*Estimated completion* : 2021
*Type* : Conservatory
*Floor area* : 5 082 m²
*Architects* : Tetrarc










































Source


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Hôtel Rennes Place des Lices

Location :* Centre
*Status :* Under rehabilitation / extension
*Estimated completion :* 2022
*Type :* Hotel
*Floor area :* 12 000 m²
*Rooms :* 119
*Architects :* DTACC / Liouville Jan

Renders have been unveiled by Groupe Legendre of their 4* hotel project in the city center, located in a former bank headquarters building dating from 1581. Renovation work started in 2018 and opening is planned for early 2023.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Bâti-Armor headquarters

Location :* Centre
*Status :* Approved
*Estimated completion :* 2022
*Type :* Office, residential
*Floor area :* 3 786 m²
*Architects :* DATA

The project has been approved.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Emergence

Location :* Bréquigny, 56 avenue du Canada
*Status :* Approved
*Estimated completion :* 2023
*Type :* Office
*Floor area :* 6 255 m²
*Height :* 44m
*Floors :* 9
*Architects :* 2A Design

The building permit has been recently granted. Work is expected to start this summer.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Interventional and Surgical Center 

Location :* Villejean - Beauregard
*Status :* Under construction
*Estimated completion :* 2023
*Type :* Hospital
*Floor area :* 42 105 m²
*Architects :* Brunet Saunier

Work recently started.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Rennes Metro Line B*















*Status* : Under construction
*Estimated completion* : 2022
*Rolling stock* : CityVal
*Length* : 13,4 km
*Stations* : 15
*Locations* : Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande / Rennes / Cesson-Sévigné


































Opening of the line is finally planned for early 2022. Meanwhile, work in the stations has almost been completed.







































































































































Métro ligne b - Rennes Métropole - Photos


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

The completed square and artificial hill in front of the main station.
























gare_tgv_rennes - Devisubox


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Vinci Group Regional Headquarters

Location :* Thabor St-Hélier
*Status :* Proposed
*Estimated completion :* 2024
*Type :* Office
*Floor area :* 7 145 m²
*Architects :* Parc Architectes


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Renaissance

Location* : Centre
*Status* : Proposed renovation
*Estimated completion* : 2025
*Type* : Mixed-use
*Floor area* : 12 000 m²
*Architects* : MVRDV / Bernard Desmoulin

The project has been amended with the removal of the extension (the square will instead be redeveloped), the central staircase and the modifications on the roof, which included the demolition of the chimneys and the addition of glass passages. The building will therefore mostly keep its current appearance.









Previous version :








More details and renders about that version here.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

Aerial photos of line B stations and construction / public spaces redevelopment projects around.















































































































































http://www.metro-rennes-metropole.fr/accueil/sinformer/photos


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Lots E1-E2* | ZAC Bernard-Duval

*Location :* Cleunay - Arsenal-Redon 
*Status :* Proposed
*Estimated completion :* 2025
*Type :* Mixed-use
*Floor area :* 4 300 m²
*Floors :* max. 11
*Architects :* Dream, Atelier Confluence


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Ilots Féval & Blériot* | EuroRennes
Specific thread (fr)

*Location* : Sud-Gare
*Status* : Approved
*Estimated completion* : 2026
*Type* : Mixed-use
*Floor area* : 35 000 m²
*Height* : max. 82 m
*Floors* : max. 27
*Architects* : JDSA, Stéphane Maupin, Maurer et Gilbert, Think Tank

The project has been approved. Work is expected to start before the end of the year.


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

*Trilogy* | EuroRennes 
*
Location :* Sud-Gare
*Status :* Under construction
*Estimated completion : *2023
*Type :* Office, residential
*Floor area : *24 883 m²
*Height :* 54 m
*Floors : *18
*Architects* *:* Atelier Kempe Thill / Atelier 56 S


























L’îlot Beaumont - DymFilms


Reportage photo à Rennes sur le chantier de l’îlot Beaumont « Ainsi, durant les six mille premières années du monde, […], l’architecture a été la grande écriture du genre humain. » Victor Hugo Situé à proximité immédiate de la gare, qui relie depuis 2017 Rennes à Paris en 1h25, et au pied de la...




www.dymfilms.com




































© Dimitri Lamour


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## ZeusUpsistos (Jun 26, 2017)

Rennes opens second automatic light metro line


Rennes opened its second driverless light metro line on September 20, two years later than originally planned.




www.railjournal.com












© Siemens Mobility


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