Parc des Expositions Plateau Nord-Est

Location: Chartres, France

Client: Chartres Aménagement

Date: 2013 shortlisted entry Competition

Total Area: 10 000m²

Budget: €20 million

Team credits:

Partner in Charge: Alejandro Zaera-Polo

Design Team: Guillermo Fernandez-Abascal, Manuel Eijo, Pep Wennberg, Robert Berenguer, Ravi Lopes, Alicia Villagrá, Tomas Hallander, Eduardo Sanz de Acedo, Cristina Galmés

The building is for the new economic pole in North Chartres. The new business centre intended to be a new link between the countryside and the city, and a gateway to Chartres, featuring an exhibition centre, hotel and shopping centre.

The exhibition centre will provide 10.000 m² of exhibition space Its large scale paralelepipedic container will be entirely covered with vegetated surfaces and the roof will replicate the scale of the surrounding agricultural allotments.

A roundabout connects the highway network to an internal service distribution loop. The main façade of the building is open to the surrounding landscape and the Cathedral. A cantilevered canopy on the main access plays a double role: It provides shelter to the visitors and creates a volume which will be a panoramic restaurant. The lobby provides information for visitors to enjoy the various exhibitions and stalls. The design creates a high street, conceived to serve internal and external exhibition areas while linked to the restaurant and panoramic terrace.

The Great Hall is a large, functional, modular exhibition area, entirely column-free to provide maximum flexibility to the exhibition space, which which can host up to 3 different events at the same time. Each hall can be made independent, with its own access and loading dock.