RATP Bus Center

Located in the southern suburban area of Paris, the RATP Bus Centre in Thiais controls all the bus lines of the south and east of Paris. The center accommodates 300 buses, with 800 bus drivers passing through the building every day. The building starts with the deformation of the ground and continues it with an apparently similar material, a sheet of ultra high performance concrete, 3 cm thick displaying a non slippery texture of dots in relief like a game of LEGO (24 mm diameter x 7 mm high, distant of 12 mm).

The building appears like a monolith with rounded edges.The concrete structure appears to be cut out with a knife, with incisions revealing cavities of reflective and coloured glass. Treated with silver mirror dots, chromatics of the glass products are inspired by the tinted curtain wall frontages of the office buildings which border the main road. The building was designed by Emmanuel Combarel Dominique Marrec Architects, headquartered in Paris.