JDS architects: euralille youth centre

‘euralille youth centre’ by JDS architects, lille, france all images © JDS architects

brussels-based JDS architects have received first place and the commission for the ‘euralille youth centre’ in lille, the firm’s premier project to be realized in france. the triangular plot accommodates three separate programmatic areas for a youth hostel, kindergarten and offices, each placed in one of the site’s corners. this distribution ensures maximum privacy while maintaining close proximity between the spaces. the building’s trifold form lifts upward at the street corners to generate open plazas which activate pedestrian interactions along the bustling avenues.

view of lifted facade and plaza from the street

the amount of daylight filtering into internal spaces dictated the elevational treatments and window configurations. the interior facing elevations of the different wings overlook a central garden. the rooftop of the kindergarten is a vegetated outdoor playing surface while the neighboring youth hostel features a series of walkout balconies from the rooms. the facade of the offices ensures adequate natural lighting without harsh direct light.

activated pedestrian plaza at the street corner

trifold form arranged around a central garden

view of garden from upper terraces

communal space of youth hostel overlooking the courtyard garden

conceptual diagram

trifold form diagram

outward views diagram

interior views between wings diagram

courtyard garden diagram

green terraces diagram

activated pedestrian plazas diagram

 daylight diagram for the offices

daylight diagram for the youth hostel

program distribution diagram

interior program diagram

project info:

project: youth hostel, kindergarten, office size: 6.980 m2 location: lille, france type: invited competition status: 1st prize 2011 budget: 12.150.000 eur client: saem euralille team: JDS, egis, agence franck boutté, consultants, sl2ec project leader: renaud pereira JDS partner in charge: julien de smedt project team: henning stuben, sandra fleischmann, heechan park, david dominguez iriondo, leonora daly, priscilla girelli, marion julien, edna lueddecke, francisco villeda, wouter dons, felix luong