MAD’s first residential project in Europe, called UNIC, will be located in the newly developed neighborhood of Clichy-Batignolles, a former brownfield site in the northeast of the seventeenth arrondissement, covering over fifty hectares. The tower will be adjacent to Martin Luther King Park and a courthouse by Renzo Piano that is currently under construction. MAD was awarded the design through an international competition, and the project is being developed in collaboration with Biecher Architectes.
The 13-story 6,600 square meter (71,000 square foot) building features curvaceous floorplates that taper slightly as the tower reaches its full-height of 50 meters. Each floor spills out into exterior spaces that act as a vertical extension of the 10 hectares of green space in Martin Luther King Park. The terraces are reminiscent of those found on Studio Gang’s Aqua Tower, but are larger at UNIC, generating a more secluded and natural experience.
The upper floors of the building will bestow views of the surrounding city. The building’s construction is a simple double core with a concrete facade. At the podium level, the structure is connected to an adjacent public housing project, and will provide community resources, including a kindergarten, retail spaces, and restaurants, as well as direct access to the Metro.
To ensure the project integrates well into the neighborhood, MAD participated in workshops about macro-scale planning and micro-scale details, including sustainable community development, resource sharing, energy management, and population demographics. “We worked closely with the local government, city planners and local architects in a series of workshops to ensure UNIC is a creative and iconic residential project united with the community,” says MAD’s founder & principal partner Ma Yansong.
