Valode & Pistre architects reveal the Thiais Orly station

The new stations of the Grand Paris Express network are sources of urban development, catalysts for activity and multimodal transport hubs. All stations meet common specifications which ensure the coherence of the network.

Each line was the subject of coordination between the architects of the different stations. However, each station is a unique project which reflects the identity of the territories served.

The architectural work therefore aimed to integrate each of the stations into its context, adapting to the particularities of the different sites, and to enrich the relationship with the public to provide users with a unique experience in their daily travels.

Thanks to the numerous connections with the existing transport network, the new metro will constitute an alternative to using the car for everyday travel. Low-carbon and less energy-consuming real estate projects will see the light of day in station areas (bio-sourced constructions, eco-design, thermal requirements, etc.). This new housing supply will limit urban sprawl and the artificialization of land in Île-de-France.

To support this urban transformation, the stations will be places for artistic interventions resulting from the “Tandems” collaboration between architects and artists.

“Tandems” is a project of the Société des Grands Projets designed and implemented by the artistic and cultural direction of Grand Paris Express led by José-Manuel Gonçalvès with Centquatre-Paris, Manifesto and the Eva Albarran agency. The Centfour intervenes in this program as a pivot between the artistic direction, the artist-architect tandem and the sponsor of the transport network, the Société des grands Projets. The artistic direction, ensured by José-Manuel Gonçalvès, guarantees the artistic requirements and the feasibility of the overall project.

These works will resonate with the architectural project, creating the largest collection of urban art in Europe.

Valode & Pistre is in charge of the design of three of the new Grand Paris Express stations: Thiais/Orly, Les Ardoines, Vert de Maisons.

The Greater Paris express network station at Thiais/Orly is located to the north of the technical installations of Orly airport in an area dominated by disparate industrial sites intended for storage.

The context is intended to evolve: 3 ZACs located respectively to the East, West and North of the future station will develop.

The emerging volume of the station is therefore designed as the starting point for these new urbanizations. It is thus composed as a simple, unique and dynamic volume organized according to the 4 cardinal points. Each side of the station opens through a vast arcade which communicates with the reception hall. The interior space is designed as a large ridged vault with taut lines that lets the light from the sky pass through.

The intersection of the 4 cylindrical vaults underlines the cardinal orientations of the project. This device allows daylight to penetrate the depths of the station. This natural lighting thus accompanies the movement of the superimposed steel and glass escalators which reach the station platforms located below. The ascent and descent thus become a real experience for users.

The pointed roof of the reception hall, through the quality of the light diffused in the interior space, evokes the celestial vault. It is this characteristic that is exploited by Lyes Hammadouche to imagine his plastic intervention combining satellite objects and projections.