Projects

Architects design sustainable school using stainless steel  

Inaugurated in 2019, the new Miriam-Makeba primary school has added a touch of modernity to a traditionally immigrant neighbourhood in Nanterre, France. Named after the legendary South African jazz singer and anti-apartheid advocate, the 4,050 square metre building blends in perfectly with its surrounding neighbourhood, including the adjacent 113 m high Hauts-de-Seine tower. Capable of accommodating nearly 400 students and 50 staff, the building also satisfies the city’s commitment to sustainable building. Wanting to use only recyclable materials in the school’s design, the architects naturally choose stainless steel – which is 100% recyclable. With a façade clad in Aperam’s Uginox 304 grade of stainless steel, the building has a unique bright finish that brings a touch of sparkle to the neighbourhood.

Stainless Steel Adds a Dash of Contemporary to the Historic Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière Paris  

The building that is now the Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière Paris has a long, eventful history. Located on the world-renowned Champs-Elysées, the Haussmann-style building dates to 1863 and, at one point or another, has served as a popular bar, meeting place for World War I aviators, luxury brasserie, and cinema. Named a historic monument in 1990, it has been the home of the Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière Paris since 2006.

A recent renovation has restored the building to its original state. In addition to refurbishing the guest rooms and amenity areas, the project also reworked the interior courtyard. To hide the ventilation ducts that run through the space, architects added an 18 m high, 10 m wide stainless steel wall that essentially serves as a screen. Adding a contemporary aesthetic to the landscape, the material’s mirror finish increases natural light and reflects the opposite façade, giving the impression that the courtyard is more spacious than it really is.

Resistant to the corrosive effect of city pollution and easy to maintain, the stainless steel wall is the latest chapter in this building’s fascinating story.

Familistère is an exercise in highlighting the capabilities of five partners in one architectural practice, archi5, who rose to a challenge to build their own homes together in Montreuil, France adjacent to their offices. It also beautifully showcases how stainless steel, most often used in public buildings, is a versatile material of choice for private buildings. 

The architectural approach was to design a building with a light touch to avoid an overpowering visual impact. KARA stainless steel was archi5’s choice of material to achieve the building’s façade – lightly fluted with shallow waves adapted to suit the scale of the building – reflecting sunlight to surrounding buildings during the day and reflecting street lights at night. The Uginox® Bright covering, with its brilliant finish, takes on all the colours of the seasons. The result is a dynamic façade with a genuine sense of motion.

Stainless steel has a harmonious application and the façades were entirely laid out based on the measurements of the sheets used, which meant that the window modules could be inserted at regular and precise intervals. The sheets were fitted to a primary frame structure and attached using visible stainless steel hexagonal screws. A hollow 5mm joint is inserted between each sheet. Edging on the building is also made from stainless steel.

KARA is Aperam’s unique brand of ferritic stainless steels, which, unlike other stainless steels, do not contain nickel, rendering KARA immune from the erratic price fluctuations of this alloying element. This is a big advantage for the construction sector where project costing and economic design are key elements as the absence of nickel holds prices for these products at a more stable level over time. 

The entire Familistère project took two years from funding, conception, design and construction.

« Lyon Islands » is a 12 sustainable building programme using novel architecture.

LyonIslands does not go unnoticed on the landscape of this new “La Confluence” district of Lyon. Unconventional architecture has delivered an original and astonishing work. The buildings are situated at the foot of the bank bringing containers onto the quayside of this river port. LyonIslands symbolises, more than any other programme, the Bouwfonds Marignan avant garde architectural philosophy, an environmental and social blend. This ambitious programme is a success on all fronts. The challenge from the outset to deliver 303 homes at the same time has also been achieved. The commercialisation, construction and actual delivery have all been completed at the same time for these buildings. The building designed by the Fuksas agency distinguishes itself through its Uginox Bright cladding, changing the pace of the Lyonnais sky. The flat joint vertical cassette panels are fixed onto frames, in turn fixed through the secondary vertical metal structure.

For the stainless steel facades, 15 different types of part, all machined in the workshop, were delivered to the site.

15000 cassettes with their eight folds each required eight months of work. The job architect at the Massimiliano Fuksas practice in Paris explains “stainless steel is ideal for providing a sensation of movements, of changes. The light reflections, the sky and the other buildings bring this façade to life, giving a vibration to the building.

Generally, stainless steel offers a wide range of surface finishes and contributes to enhancing the aesthetics of several works. Be it mat, bright, polished, etched, beadblasted, spun or coloured, not only found on facades, roves or decorative applications such as the structure of the beams.

School system Les Bartelottes, kindergarten and elementary school, gymnasium and Dojo, and staff accommodation.

To meet the increase in its population, the municipality of La Ville du Bois, in the south of Paris, decided to build in its new neighbourhood a school and a sports equipment. The agency “NOMADE architectes” has designed a functional and sustainable project.

An ecological transition

The program is complex, it is about having a school, a gymnasium and staff accommodation on the same parcel. Taking place between the suburban area of the city and the protected area of ​​the surrounding forest, it is composed of three entities which gather gracefully with the slope.

While the school building with two enclosed patios adopts various altimetry, the gymnasium on the north side of the parcel is a remarkable volume highlighted by a multitude of vertical lines. As for the Dojo, it buries in the southern part of the gymnasium while artfully opening on the landscape. Therefore, the different volumes create a subtle dialogue with the surrounding nature. 

A full-scale awareness tool

Ecology, which is within the architects concerns, is revealed in this project at its most beautiful effect by providing users a full-scale awareness tool. Whether it’s through the wooden school structure or through the finishing of the two adjacent entities, it emanates from the project a fondness for green and sustainable materials. As for the presence of shiny stainless steel (Uginox Bright) which decorates the gymnasium, it gives it a more atypical effect which, while reflecting the surrounding landscape, designs a smooth transition between nature and the city.

The two patios which are at the heart of the school provide interior brightness while fulfilling their role as natural occupation within the building. Thus, while reminding of the landscape it offers a field of experimentation and initiation for children. As for the

administrative centre, it is located at the northwest corner of the building and includes the teacher’s rooms and their service areas.