Danish architecture studio BIG has revealed plans for a mass-timber, riverside conference centre in Rouen, France, with a swooping roof.

Designed for the Rouen Normandy Metropolis, The Sail will be situated on the Seine river and aim to provide public space that connects the Normandy city with the waterside.

A swooping roof will top The Sail congress centre in Rouen

The centre will contain two auditoriums, exhibition spaces, meeting rooms and a restaurant within its mass-timber structure.

BIG referenced Rouen’s traditional half-timbered houses when designing the building’s glass and timber facades, while the shape of ship sails informed the sweeping roof, which will be covered in photovoltaics.

The roof will extend to shelter outdoor space

The Sail’s tallest facade will face the river and main road, with long timber columns topped with a roofline that will gently curve up at one end.

Towards the city-facing side of the building, the curving roof will slope down into six scalloped waves that extend to form canopies over an outdoor public space.

“Rising along the Seine, The Sail introduces a new silhouette to Rouen with its sweeping roofline paying tribute to the city’s naval heritage and historic skyline of spires,” said BIG partner Jakob Sand.

“The building greets visitors from the highway with a vertical facade, while on the city side, the roof creates sheltered canopies, extending the foyer into a human-scaled public landscape,” he continued.

“Built with mass-timber construction, daylight-optimised interiors and an energy-producing roof, it is both a low-impact infrastructure and a cultural hub, offering an inclusive space for Rouen and its visitors.”

It will be situated along the Seine river

Inside, The Sail’s timber structure and characteristic curving roof will be left exposed.

Trees and planted patches will surround the building, which will be watered by rainwater collected from the roof.

Other projects recently unveiled by BIG include renders of a “built-from-scratch” conceptual city in the American desert, and plans for the four-building 670 Mesquit complex in Los Angeles, which recently received planning approval nine years after initial designs were released.

The images and video are by Atchain.

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