Rossignol Global Headquarters

The “home of Rossignol” brings together the different entities of the firm. The roof covers three types of space:

• The racing ski production workshop, the brand’s technological showcase.
• The street, a bright and spectacular space of social encounter, which runs through the building from side to side.
• The office floors, which include the administrative and the R&D.

On the motorway side, the curved facade becomes a roof over the workshops and then on to the apex, before descending again on the other side to cover the office area. It is then broken up with planted shale-paved patios, so that nature and building overlap. The irregular profile of the roof and office facades leaves the opportunity for future extensions; additions can be built without disrupting the balance and identity of the project. From the start, the architecture embodies its own growth process.

Inside, the building functions like a “hive” in which the different activities intersect and communicate. Each person in his or her diversity – engineer, designer, technician, secretary, salesman, etc. – meets in reciprocal encounter. The restaurant, situated right at the top and at the centre of gravity of the street, is designed as the primary nucleus of company life: two great glasshouses divide up the panoramic views to the sky and the mountains. A large roof terrace is provided for alfresco lunching,

Only two materials are used for the external envelope: wood (natural larch) and glass. The structure is made of steel, the post and beam frame of the service floors spans distances of 12 to 16 metres to leave the space as free as possible. Above the workshop the timber over-roof hides all the machinery so that no technical components are visible. The exterior form is unblemished, abstract.