With the aim of becoming a model for sustainable urban regeneration through the promotion of architectural, social, and energy innovation, the city of Marseille launched some years ago the largest urban renewal program in Europe. The initiative set out to offer a testing ground for sustainable city projects, adapted to climatic, geographic, cultural, human, and economic aspects specific to the Mediterranean region. Within this program, Smartseille is an an eco-city project developed over 2.7 hectares in the northern part of the city, and which includes 60.000 square meters of offices, apartments, and retail premises, with capacity for almost 4,000 people. Aside from the use of sustainable materials and clean building methods, Smartseille implements energy-saving measures like thalassothermy – with seawater circuits – or an energy-sharing system to exchange heat between offices and apartments, proposing concepts such as space co-use or eco-mobility.

The first building in this ‘superblock’ is a nine-story complex. The facade is cladded with a large vertical brise-soleil comprised of 1.600 white concrete pieces measuring three meters in height.