New Saint-Gobain Research Centre

Located along the Aubervilliers canal in Seine Saint-Denis, Saint-Gobain Recherche is a multidisciplinary industrial research centre at the forefront of innovation.

In the continuity of the existing centre, our project aims to develop the current site with the creation of a new office building with a capacity of approximately 350 to 400 people including meeting spaces, a restaurant, a cafeteria and sports facilities. It also houses a 150-seat conference room with a large reception area. Our project proposes to fulfill this ambition by offering a harmonious complex between the existing industrial factory building and the new building.

Deliberately moving away from the volume of traditional office buildings, the new complex shows an iconic silhouette, as a reminiscence of industrial hall structures, reflecting the permanent innovation strategy of the Saint-Gobain Group. The building is composed of three large halls with a parabolic profile, the ideal arch geometry under its self weight, connected by two large glazed atriums, as a tribute to Saint-Gobain’s initial core trade.

The repetitive and modular nature of our project offers the possibility of carrying out the overall master plan planned for the site in reasonable costs and to allow, in the future, the installation of new entities based on the same construction method.

Location - Date

Aubervilliers, France - 2018

Client

Saint-Gobain Recherche

Program

Labs, Offices, Restaurant, Meeting Rooms, 150-seat Auditorium, Amenities

Area - Estimated budget

10.000 m² - 27 M€ HT

Status

Competition

Consultants

COSB (cost estimator)

FRONT AXONOMETRIC VIEW

HALL STRUCTURE
The primary structure of each hall consists of large parabolic arches made of reinforced concrete. Their geometry, ideal to ensure a pure compression behaviour and avoid bending, is optimal in terms of structural efficiency and
ensures the great lightness and transparency of the building.
The arches are interconnected by concrete beams at each floor level ensuring the lateral bracing of the whole. The brise soleils complete this system by creating a tertiary structure.
Each facade follows a regular pattern of 1.35 m. The primary arches are spaced every 4 modules. Each hall is composed of 6 arches and 20 modules while the atriums are composed of 12 modules each.
The different levels are realized with a mixed concrete steel frame following a 5.40m grid and allowing a great flexibility of interior layout.
ATRIUM STRUCTURE
Showcasing Saint-Gobain's glass-making know-how, the atriums are made of structural glass hall with a light cable structure.

FACADES EAST & NORTH
Morning arrival from Saint-Denis Canal. View of the East facade and the outdoor terrace of the restaurant.

The choice of a regular concrete structure allows the new volume to resonate with the twenty bays of the existing center and, although possessing a singular and autonomous architecture, not to place it in opposition but in a harmonious dialogue for the whole. This approach also makes possible a respectful integration of the new building with regard to the purpose of the site and the Canal Saint-Denis industrial area.

WEST ATRIUM
Dedicated to work spaces and relaxation areas to stimulate informal exchanges, the West atrium is populated by suspended meeting rooms. It also creates a secondary entrance for employees and privides a direct access to the sport amenities located in the West Hall.

WEST ATRIUM

CIRCULATION
Spaces of exchange and sharing, the two atriums are also privileged spaces of both vertical and horizontal circulation. A set of walkways allows to move freely from one office hall to another while enjoying a more direct relation to the garden. Wide open staircases make it possible to go from one floor to another in addition to panoramic glass lifts. Circulations are deliberately placed between the office plates to promote informal exchanges and create a climate of active collaboration.

DIFFERENT CLIMATE ZONES
The building includes 4 differentiated climatic zones:
- ZONE A: Unprotected outdoor area // Restaurant terrace
- ZONE B: Sheltered outdoor spaces // Balconies along the South facade, covered path connecting old & new buildings
- ZONE C: Naturally ventilated and partially heated and air-conditioned spaces // Atriums
- ZONE D: Indoor spaces with controlled climate // Halls, conference Room, suspended meeting rooms in the West Atrium

FLEXIBILITY
If the floorplates layouts offer a very transparent space, the regular pattern of the façade with its 1.35m module offers the possibility of partitioning each office floor freely according to the needs of each service. Each level is also equipped with a technical raised floor allowing the routing of networks without affecting the flexibility of partitioning.
MODULARITY
The decomposition of the building both vertically and horizontally into 3 distinct halls makes it possible to envisage a multitude of distribution of services according to the size of each entity. A department can occupy all or part of a floor plate straddling the 3 halls or be split between several floors directly connected via the atriums.
SCALABILITY
The fully modular nature of the building offers an evolutionary system that can be expanded with new halls. It is not a fixed but intrinsically evolutionary scheme to allow future expansions.