études F


A3 highway

acoustic treatment & landscape integration




Mission:
design
Collaboration:
Kaell architecte
Areal (landscape architects)
Client:
Administration des Ponts et Chaussées
Location:
Berchem-Bettembourg (LU)
Date:
2024 - currently under construction



The widening of the A3 highway between Luxembourg-City and Bettembourg requires a thoughtful approach to balancing heavy infrastructure with its natural and urban surroundings. Tasked with the acoustic treatment for this new 2x3 lane expansion, Kaell Architecte and études F collaborated on a design that minimizes the visual weight of typical highway barriers, working within strict durability constraints.

Confronted with sound-absorbing panels reaching heights of up to seven meters, the team chose restraint over architectural statement. The design works to soften the infrastructural language, aiming to make the barriers as unobtrusive as possible - not just for drivers, but crucially for the neighboring communes and rural landscapes looking in.

Central to this effort is a collaboration with landscape architects Areal. The team developed a comprehensive greening plan using exclusively indigenous plant species. By selecting plants with cyclic blossoming schedules, they ensure a prolonged flowering period that helps buffer the structure while establishing a functional biotope for local wildlife.

Now coming to life through its first active construction phases, the project demonstrates how large-scale infrastructure can be responsibly integrated into the landscape through careful, cooperative design. Managing a project of this magnitude introduces a compelling duality: the team must think across kilometers of sprawling highway while simultaneously refining technical details on a millimeter scale to ensure structural alignment and acoustic performance. Balancing these vast distances with meticulous precision underscores the care required to successfully weave heavy engineering into the regional fabric.









work