A canopy like an origami

In Metz, the Galeries Lafayette building has undergone a real transformation, symbol of the city center’s metamorphosis, realized by architect Manuelle Gautrand.

Reflecting the economic and social changes of the 19th century, the Department Stores, through their commercial and architectural boldness, are a part of the history of a city.

In Metz, the Galeries Lafayette have then been a vector of the city’s image, contributing to its touristic and commercial dynamic and successively reflecting its different times.

Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, Galeries Lafayette Department Store in Metz, France

Built in the 1980’s, the building – a true landmark in Metz – had to evolve in order to adapt to the new values of the Galeries Lafayette and to become a reference, both on the commercial and on the architectural level. Singular and remarkable element in the urban landscape of the city, the architect has focused on this urban scale of the building and referred to the symbolic aspect of Department Stores to give it a new image and identity.

Clothed in a stone facade, relatively cold and without any window or opening – except in its lower part – the existing building had entrances and vitrines that were not very generous. In order to transform the image of this building, visible from the other side of the square and to turn it into a signal or landmark for passersby, the architect decided to preserve the stone facade, with interesting classical ornamental features and to concentrate on its lower part, space where the public circulates.

With the objective to reconnect with the history of the Galeries Lafayette, Manuelle Gautrand chose to create a canopy as a reference to the exceptional glassworks that were built in the early 20th century. The project has been organized around this overhanging facade that revisits in a contemporary manner a strong symbol of the Department Stores.

The large folding of this canopy – made of two tempered and laminated glass, in between which are enclosed four layers of red film –, which gives more height and breathing to the lower facades, allows balancing the general proportions of the building. The stone is now displayed in more reasonable proportions. The more the glass folds approach the angle of the building, the more they expand, as if they were trying to reach passersby on the Republic Square.

A project of lighting and illumination of the façade was specifically developed with the light conception agency ON. At night, the light design reinforces the red color of the canopy that assures its nocturnal presence in the landscape of Metz and goes far beyond a simple “staging”.