EADS HQ Toulouse
Zaha Hadid Architects
2012
Position: Intern
Project type: Competition
The project was a competition for an offices building at the Toulouse airport.
A simple cube was chosen for the global volume. An internal atrium extends diagonally through the building creating a void that has a dynamic form allowing each offices floor direct views to the runways and to the airspace. At the north of the internal atrium, a glass roof brings in the extra daylight necessary to the building. The common space formed by the atrium facilitates the communication between the different floors of offices and provides a wide internal volume that passes through the four levels. The runways in the background in the upper levels form a flexible space on the ground floor for temporary events and exhibitions.
The space of the atrium with its big angle open towards the runways was inspired by the workshops of the aircraft hangars. This creates a central space which is familiar to the context neighboring the Blagnac and the aerospace industry.
The location of the offices, around the same common space, presents several advantages not only from a functional or from an efficiency point of view but also, at its base, this allows creating the same open work environments as in production factories. The aim was to have the space of the atrium with its large scale and its well developed structure to become a physical incarnation of the general aspiration of EADS for creating work space for “industrial” offices, which is closely linked to the industrial activities of EADS group.
