Campus LIDL France by Atelier M3 architectes

Strategically located with sweeping views of the Château de Sceaux and its surrounding park, Campus LIDL France establishes a new benchmark for the integration of architecture, landscape, and urban life. This ambitious development transcends the traditional notion of a corporate headquarters by weaving together workspace, public space, and urban ecology into a unified and accessible campus. Designed by Atelier M3 architectes, the project takes full advantage of its location within the ZAC district masterplan, contributing to the green and blue infrastructure that defines the area’s identity.

The masterplan centers on a landscaped core, with accessible plazas, lush vegetation, and interconnected walkways that encourage fluid circulation. By opening the campus to the city, the project dissolves the conventional boundaries of corporate architecture, welcoming not only employees but also visitors and residents into a lively and inclusive environment.

An Open and Transparent Urban Block

The campus is structured around a main garden building and three satellite structures, adopting the concept of an open block that promotes both porosity and visibility. The heart of the project is a central covered street, a dynamic, light-filled internal boulevard that links the various functions of the campus together. This shared spine acts as a social condenser where employees can meet, collaborate, and relax throughout the day.

Facing the main boulevard, the primary office building asserts a monolithic, mineral presence that harmonizes with the ZAC’s broader architectural language. Its recessed ground level helps restore a human scale, softening its urban impact and creating generous public forecourts that act as breathing spaces within the dense city fabric. This gesture transforms the campus from a closed corporate fortress into an integrated urban participant, blurring the lines between public and private realms.

Architecture for New Ways of Working

The design of Campus LIDL France reflects a deep understanding of contemporary work culture and the evolving needs of its users. The campus prioritizes employee well-being through carefully crafted spaces that balance concentration, collaboration, and rest.

Visitors and staff are greeted by a fully glazed lobby, offering a transparent, light-filled arrival experience that immediately conveys the campus’s spirit of openness. Inside, a wide range of spatial typologies supports diverse working styles, from informal collaborative areas to focused workstations. The inclusion of relaxation lounges, flexible meeting rooms, and a spacious company restaurant creates a holistic work environment that encourages both productivity and social interaction.

Generous green terraces at multiple levels extend the interior outward, providing visual and physical contact with nature throughout the day. These terraces, along with interior winter gardens and open-air seating zones, allow employees to work or unwind in a variety of settings, reinforcing the connection between work and well-being.

A Sustainable Landscape Strategy

The landscape design, developed in collaboration with Land’Act Paysage, is a key driver of the project’s identity and sustainability objectives. By alternating planted areas with pedestrian pathways, the campus creates a network of green corridors that enhance biodiversity while encouraging active mobility.

Rainwater management is made visible through surface swales, turning infrastructure into an educational and aesthetic feature. The widespread implementation of green roofs and terraces helps mitigate the urban heat island effect, improves thermal comfort, and contributes to stormwater retention. Together, these elements demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental stewardship and position the campus as a model for sustainable corporate design.

A Multifunctional Ecosystem

Campus LIDL France is not merely a headquarters—it is a dense, mixed-use ecosystem. The program includes office and research spaces, logistics facilities, a supermarket, and a seminar center with 50 meeting rooms, alongside a range of shared services and amenities. This combination of functions supports a diverse and adaptable work culture, encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration and positioning the campus as a hub of innovation and knowledge exchange.

By bringing together such a variety of uses under one architectural framework, the campus fosters a vibrant daily rhythm that extends beyond traditional office hours. Employees and visitors can work, shop, dine, collaborate, and relax within a single coherent environment, reinforcing the project’s ambition to be a living piece of the city rather than an isolated workplace.

A Vision for the Future

Campus LIDL France ultimately represents a forward-looking approach to corporate architecture—one that prioritizes transparency, openness, ecological responsibility, and human well-being. Through its integration of architecture and landscape, its commitment to sustainable design, and its focus on creating meaningful social spaces, the project sets a new standard for urban corporate campuses in France and beyond.

Photography: Alexis Paoli