Macquarie Group

Chambers Architects has just delivered the new French headquarters of Australian investment bank Macquarie Group. The 1,700m2 building boasts one of the most exceptional addresses in Paris, with windows opening directly onto the Rond-point des Champs-Elysées.

Naturally, this extraordinary view is staged from the entrance, out of the elevators and into the " porch ", a lobby that is usually the original signature of Macquarie Group sites around the world. It's the epitome of the Group's approach to customer care. Here, surprise, the false ceiling has been opened to reveal the tangle of beams and technical networks, usually carefully concealed: a sort of "architectural écorché" in black and white, a direct expression of the Chambers architects concept: " High contrast, high confidence".

Black and white, which contrast throughout the space, put an end to the reign of polychromy that has characterized Macquarie Group's facilities since the 2000s. They also reflect the confrontation of shadow and natural light, as intended by the designers. The prestige areas(porch, deal room) are not the only ones to benefit from this first day. The entire layout of the plateau is designed to ensure that most circulation and even "movement" take advantage of the changing shades of daylight. Technical support functions, on the other hand, are concentrated in the darker part of the space, on the blind side of the building. For Stephen Chambers, natural light is "an all-too-frequently overlooked raw material in interior architecture that urgently needs to be rehabilitated in view of environmental, aesthetic and economic requirements".