Béal & Blanckaert architectes, Lille (FR) 

Built in a new Lomme Euratechnologies district Special Planning Area in Lille, the building is on the perimeter of a large water garden extending between a rehabilitated factory and the quayside of the Haute Deûle canal. The building associates wood structure and joinery with a glazed tile facade, which echoes the brick of the local industrial heritage. It demonstrates wood’s validity in large-scale office programmes in a postindustrial context. The four upper levels of the building, which are supported by a concrete base (a semi-underground parking and ground floor) and braced by concrete cores, are entirely made of wood, with a primary structure and a secondary structure. The main structure is made by a glulam post and beam system which supports the CLT floors on a tight spacing, strengthening the visual presence of the structure and generating a significant saving on the volume of wood used in floor slabs.

These support an acoustic drop ceiling complex which also allows to hide the networks in the thickness. The CLT panels role is multiple : structural (support of the floors loads and bracing of the horizontal planes), firebreak between levels (thickness sized by fire safety requirements), aesthetic (industrial quality of the panels left exposed) and acoustic (added mass).
The wood-framed exterior façade panels consist of a gypsum plasterboard, insulated metal counter-frame, vapor barrier, OSB panel, wood frame wall filled of a mineral isolation, a rainscreen, and a double batten which holds terracotta tiles. In office spaces, the columns, beams and undersides of the wooden slabs are left exposed and confer a warmth and specific material quality to the indoor environment, while allowing a didactic reading of the expressed joints.

The material choice was imposed by the developer Tereneo, specializing in the production of wooden office buildings. This fast-build wood structure helps to meet the growing demand for office space in this booming neighborhood, which is highly popular with investors and businesses in the digital sector.

Wood has contributed positively towards the building’s performance: firstly, he lightness of the construction system limited the loads on the foundation piles, minimizing its impact on the fragile subsoil. Secondly, the use of wood frames and casements allowed it to obtain a high-performance envelope, which has earned it the BePos label. Finally, thanks to its prefabrication, the construction system has made it possible to erect the office levels (structure, floors and wood frame walls) in just three months, which took only two more to be waterproof and airtight. This has minimized nuisances towards neighbours and workers’ exposure to the weather.

 

Architect: Béal&Blanckaert architectes (JV Deleersnyder, T. Lecourt, F. Wallyn)

Wood engineer: Ingébois

Timber construction: Création-Bois Construction, Billiet, BRC, Spacing, ADBVannieu, Boissimmo

Client: Tereneo

Location: Rue Marie-Louise Delwaulle, Euratechnologies, Lille, (France)

Conception and realization: 11/2015 – 07/2018

Built area (footprint): 8500 m2

 

Photo : © Julien Lanoo


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