Constellation: a new student residence for the students of Rennes SB

The future CONSTELLATION student residence will be located at the foot of the Rennes School of Business campus and will be able to accommodate more than 500 students in furnished studio apartments of 17 to 20 square metres from the start of the academic year in September 2024.

The CONSTELLATION residence will include fully equipped studio apartments with well-designed and pleasant spaces, as well as numerous services and common areas for students from different backgrounds. Located on the ground floor, these common areas will act as a window into the cosmopolitan heart of the project, providing a view of both the Rennes School of Business campus and the building’s landscaped courtyard.

An on-site manager will maintain and manage the residence and a wide range of services will be available to the student residents: gym, laundromat, Wi-Fi, etc.

The communal spaces, which are largely open, are at the forefront: reception hall, coworking room, relaxation lounge, or sports room. The accommodation is designed as a living space where each resident can work and relax in a pleasant environment.

Located right next to the Rennes SB Campus, students will have direct access to the campus.

Discover this new student residence project in a vidéo (in French).

An eco-responsible residence

The construction of the CONSTELLATION residence is based on a unique concept:

THERMAL PERFORMANCE
The innovative design of the residence guarantees an Energy 2 Carbon 1 (E2C1) thermal performance, which corresponds to a 10% improvement in energy performance compared to the 2012 French Thermic Regulations.

COMFORT
The materials used ensure optimal comfort for future occupants by maintaining a constant interior temperature for 15 hours despite variations in the outside temperature.

OFF-SITE WOOD CONSTRUCTION
The homes will be industrially manufactured off-site, in the REALITES Build Tech factory located just south of Rennes, in La Janais. This method of construction represents an average reduction in construction time of around 50%. It also means less pollution and fewer nuisances on the building sites, a positive impact on the environment, a better quality of work for the workers and a protected neighbourhood.

BIO-SOURCED MATERIALS
Thanks to a unique construction concept, the Réalités group ensures that its buildings are made from 100% bio-sourced materials: the wood comes mainly from France and is PEFC certified. The insulation solutions are also bio-sourced, derived from plant biomass.

A collaborative project between the Réalités group and Rennes SB, for the benefit of students

The project has been in development since 2019 in consultation with the different stakeholders: José MACIEL, Thomas FROEHLICHER, and François CHATEL for Rennes SB, the local Rennes city council, Vincent Cornu (the consulting architect) and Espacil (the landlord), so that it can be adapted to the needs of students:

• An open building project on the Rennes SB campus
• Intended to house, as a priority, the international students of Rennes SB as part of the school’s objectives of international development
• Residence not higher than the school: architectural quality, designed using collective intelligence
• 522 flats including 2 managerial flats
• 50% of the housing management will be entrusted to Cap Etudes (a REALITES subsidiary)
• 50% of the housing management will be entrusted to Espacil with different rent rates (e.g. for example, for students with scholarships from the school)
• Why the name? The name “Constellation” was chosen to illustrate the configuration of the project and the international dimension of Rennes SB

A word from the architect:

“The CONSTELLATION student residence is an ambitious project that is part of the international development of the Rennes School of Business campus. The urban, landscaping and architectural designs have orientated naturally towards an exceptional project of which the main theme is an idea of opening onto the city in a unique green setting. The buildings, judiciously distributed over the site, create a maximum of visual porosity, breathing space and connections with the environment. The buildings radiate like satellites around the shared garden. The architecture of the project uses curved lines, shaped and forms, alternates between used and empty spaces and unfolds like a ribbon around thematic vegetated spaces specific to the project. Finally, the heart of the block, free of cars, contributes to the creation of a qualitative vegetal environment for its occupants and the wider local neighbourhood.

The treatment of the facades combines sobriety and brilliance, opacity and transparency, in a coherent whole that highlights the vegetation. The dwellings, largely glazed, gravitate around the different core-spaces and thus offer multiple orientations to the occupants. The project is designed with a strong environmental ambition, using an industrialised modular wood structure, thus reducing CO2 emissions and nuisances linked to the construction process.”

Key figures

• 522 homes
• 7 buildings
• 1 laundry service
• 1 fitness room
• 1 coworking room
• 1 bicycle room
• 1 secure car park
• 2 building managers
• Expected to be finished: 2nd quarter 2024

Jury’s choice at the 2022 Pyramides d’Argent

The project was awarded the special jury prize on Thursday 24 November 2022 as part of the Pyramides d’Argent 2022 competition organised by the French Federation of Real-Estate Developers (FPI).

This prize was awarded to Groupe Réalités and Agence Clénet Brosset, the architects of the project.

More about the project (in French)