ArchitecturePaysage designed to respond to the demands of mobility in the post-carbon era 

Versailles was built around the idea of movement: from horses to carriages and from carriages to trams, but also from tree-lined promenades to grand royal avenues. By positioning the new bus operations centre at the edge of the Satory Forest, our project draws on this heritage whilst responding to the demands of the post-carbon era. The project therefore sets out to explore a broader scope: to transform a technical infrastructure – capable of accommodating 140 buses, a maintenance hall and storage spaces – into architecture that blends into the landscape, sculpted into the topography, clad in stone and earth-toned concrete, and rendered invisible from the Versailles estate. Functional and rooted in the earth, discreet yet ambitious, it draws on the hallmarks of Versailles’ heritage and landscape whilst offering an optimal and adaptable working environment to suit future users.

Geo-history

Versailles was not born of a sedentary lifestyle, but of movement. Before becoming the heart of monarchical power, it was a path; before becoming a town, it was a stopping point on the routes linking Paris to the Normandy region. Its urban form has evolved in step with changing modes of transport: from the slow pace of horses to the rolling of carriages, and from 19th-century railway stations to contemporary public transport. 

First, there were the old stables, then the twins: the Great and Small Stables. The Versailles bus operations centre (Centre Opérationnel de Bus – COB) project that we have chosen to name La Nouvelle Écurie (the New Stables), fits into this historical timeline of transport and mobility.

The project is a symbolic extension of those places where royal journeys were once organised and now accommodates the transport needs of the town in the post-carbon era. Beyond its site and programme, the project is understood and experienced first and foremost as a territory. La Nouvelle Écurie is a form of ArchitecturePaysage.

Anchoring

— Urban and landscape forms

The Versailles area is characterised by a depression, framed by two gently rolling and expansive hillsides running east to west. Peripheral forest-covered hills cut through the horizon, framing the views and reinforcing the sense being immersed in a monumental landscape. 

In the Palace grounds, André Le Nôtre traced long sightlines to form a three-pronged landscape layout, mirrored by a three-pronged urban layout. Three majestic avenues – Avenue de Paris, Avenue de Saint-Cloud and Avenue de Sceaux – converge on the Place d’Armes and the King’s Chamber. These arteries anticipated flows that did not yet exist, creating a unique sense of openness in the landscape, where sky seems to meet the cobblestones.

This duality – on one side a landscape structured by openings; on the other, architecture permeated and sculpted by landscape – has defined the unique spirit of Versailles’ urban planning.

The east-west axis, structured by the Grand Canal, forms its backbone, unfolding remarkable depth of field all the way to the horizon. Overlapping this major axis are several transverse lines, the most significant of which is the former Saint-Cyr Road. The Versailles COB site is located precisely at the end of this axis, at the gateway to Saint-Cyr and at the edge of the Satory Forest. Our project draws on this unique location to restore clarity and dignity to this territorial threshold.

Sequencing

— Broadening the perspective

So how can a transport facility go beyond its strictly functional requirements to reimagine the landscape dimension of the site?

A discovery provided the answer: the Geometric Plan of the Petit Parc de Versailles (1847), a previously unpublished archival document, helped to redefine the scope of the project. This plan, which had never been implemented, provided for the construction of a royal road linking Bayonne to Paris, crossing part of the fortified wall near the Saint-Cyr gate. It also included a landscaped promenade, extending from the Plaine du Mail to the Étoile Royale.

It was this historical approach to the site that enabled us to establish the directions the COB development project must follow: realigning the departmental road with its original trajectory; undertaking an ambitious replanting campaign; rethinking traffic flow on the RD10 road, especially the access junction to the COB; reinforcing the role of the Saint-Cyr gate as an urban and landscape pivot point; and drawing on past layouts that had been effective in reducing traffic at the entrance to the town and the park. Therefore, the COB project allows for a complete requalification of the area.

Morphogenesis

The first stage in designing the COB site arose from a detailed study of the existing topography, in order to enclose the bus depot and eliminate any line of sight with the Versailles estate. Remodelling the land brought the various soil strata to the surface, revealing the site’s geological history. This process of subtraction allows the building to blend naturally into the terrain, as if it had emerged from it. The excavated material is reused on site to create the COB’s earth-concrete structure. This volume is not an addition, but a continuation of the ground itself, condensed, compact and reshaped.

The project unfolds a functional, ergonomic and modular layout, designed for the bus depot and its future users. It is organised around four key programmatic components: the stables (bus storage area) capable of accommodating 140 buses; the commons of the estate (workshops); the offices (service areas); and the maintenance hall, a contemporary reinterpretation of the Gallery of Coaches.

At the site entrance, technical equipment is sheltered beneath a large, vegetated roof that serves a dual purpose: protecting the installations and concealing them from external views.

The layout of the services building is based on a clear and efficient design, structured around a central hall that connects two sectors: “Administration & Operations” to the west, and “Maintenance” to the east. From this hall, a longitudinal circulation route provides access to the spaces in such a way as to avoid any crossover of flows. Vertical circulation routes are also organised hierarchically, with a main core for office functions and a separate core for technical teams. This rational layout optimises movement, prevents interference between activities, and ensures the safe and coherent functioning of the site.

Upon entering the maintenance hall, bus drivers will have a clear view of the different maintenance bays, which are positioned at a 30° angle in relation to the main façade. This angular orientation significantly reduces the turning radius required for vehicle entry, thereby facilitating manoeuvring. Vehicles will enter and exit the building in forward gear to ensure safe movement.

Similar to the layout of the maintenance bays, the parking bays in the depot are organised at an optimal angle – in this case 45° in relation to the axis of the circulation lanes. Complementing the storage area facilities, firewalls partition the buses into groups of ten.

Elementary components

— Geological materials, historical materials, technical materials and living materials

The materials used in the project resonate with those that shaped the geo-history of Versailles, whilst adapting the project to contemporary requirements. 

Saint-Maximin limestone is used as permanent formwork for the base, echoing traditional rubble stone formwork techniques, thereby continuing a building tradition deeply rooted in French architectural history. Saint-Leu limestone is used for the upper sections, giving the building a more refined appearance in harmony with the stonework of the Versailles estate. To this mineral framework is added an intermediate layer of lighting and technical systems, topped with a finely crafted timber roof structure. A true example of earth-inspired architecture, the office façades are made of ochre-coloured rammed-earth concrete that engages with the site’s geology.

Planted embankments, dry meadows and wooded edges form a setting that extends the landscape features of the area whilst concealing the technical spaces. Blending into the terrain and nestled beneath the tree line, the Nouvelle Écurie appears only in fragments from the road, revealing itself more or less in step with the changing seasons, like a discreet presence within the site’s natural setting.

In the layout of the maintenance hall’s facilities, particular attention has been given to the quality of connections between users. The manager’s office is designed as a key social and operational hub, positioned in close proximity to the teams. Located on the ground floor, at the heart of the maintenance area, it enables the workshop manager to remain in direct contact with the mechanics. This positioning, “adjacent to the workshop”, fosters cohesion, responsiveness and high-quality social dialogue.

Value creation

This landscape-driven architectural form is paired with an integrated environmental approach, based on bioclimatic design and the responsible use of resources, including careful calibration of light sources, the reuse of on-site soil, local plant palettes, permeable surfaces and water management strategies.

In accordance with the requirements of the functional programme, all parking bays are equipped with charging points. The site is fitted with dual charging stations, strategically positioned at the rear of the parking bays. This sharing of facilities optimises investment and maintenance costs whilst ensuring the fleet’s constant availability thanks to systematic overnight charging.

The structure is based on a long-span construction system, creating an entirely open volume free of intermediate load-bearing elements. This configuration allows for maximum flexibility in interior layouts, the future accommodation of buses of varying sizes, and offers potential for extension or repurposing, as required. This approach ensures that the depot can adapt to rapid changes in the transport sector.

The north façade has been designed as a lightweight structure, separate from the load-bearing elements and inserted directly between structural bays. The configuration allows for increased modularity to accommodate new access points, new facilities or additional openings. In this way, the new bus operations centre of Versailles lays the foundations for a site that is both fully optimised and ergonomically efficient today, whilst also anticipating and responding to the evolving needs of the city of tomorrow.