Exterior: perforated panels and floating by Gilles Bouchez

For the expansion project of the building of the community of municipalities of Lacq (Mourenx, France), the architect Gilles Bouchez has devised a sunscreening system made in techno-DuPont ™ Corian ® surface, in order to regulate the heat storage of a glass façade facing South.

Developed in collaboration with Créa Diffusion, certified laboratory for the processing of Corian ®, these perforated panels and slightly raised, have a rate of 30% openings, a unique technical and innovative result.

The architect Gilles Bouchez explains: “I wanted an aesthetic and contemporary alternative to wooden or canvas awnings. a solution, something that is not very white, perforated heat accumulated to allow light to filter and view, and without visible structure. My idea was to get the panels that seem to float, visible internally and externally, with a feeling of thickness given by the shadows of them.”

The community of communes of Lacq (CCL) is a public organization of Intermunicipal Cooperation (EPCI), expanded January 1, 2011, through the merger of the communities of the municipalities of Arthez de Bèarn, Lacq, Lagor and Mone. The community of municipalities includes 47 rural municipalities and industrial groups 35 400 inhabitants and covers an area of 534.2 square kilometers.

Since its foundation in 1974, the CCL acts for the economic diversification of the industrial zone. In addition to building an environment conducive to job creation, the community also operates through land acquisition, development and commercialization of areas of activity, and the financing of infrastructure.

To encourage the creation of new businesses and expansion of existing companies, the CCL supports funding research, provides technical assistance in the implementation of projects, and also gives them financial support.

“This solution proposed by Gilles Boucher wowed us the capacity to respond to needs, bringing the functionality of sunscreens with original and innovative aesthetics,” explains Dominique Bernard, Vice President of CCL, project manager.

Two different heights of panels (3 meters x height 2 meters wide x 12 mm thick) were worked to cover a front of 40 metres long and 6 metres high, covering a total area of 251 square metres of Corian ®. UV resistance of the panels in Corian ® has been tested and confirmed on buildings as the seeko’o Hotel in Bordeaux, whose façade, after five years, remained intact. Corian ® has received the technical suitability of the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment) (n° 02/11 1472) to be used as cladding.

To be in line with the front mounted glass without apparent structure, and allow the occupants of these offices sunblinds without seeing the support structure, was developed a docking system similar to that used for glass: a set of vertical cables in stainless steel, spaced every 65 cm, on which they were “engaged” the panels made with DuPont ™ Corian ®.

The architect Gilles Bouchez also provided the lighting of the panels, with rows of LEDs placed on the ground and half height, between the panels in DuPont ™ Corian ® and glass façade, face upwards in order to return the most relevant effect, playing at the same time the variety of colors offered by LEDs, and changing depending on the time of the events (and a golden light when the water rate is high or at Christmas , for example). The architect has also thought that at sunset, when the occupants of offices using artificial light, the latter could be reflected on Corian ® panels, affecting positively the decrease of energy consumption.

Corian ® has made possible the realization of solutions: due to its ease of cutting were different sizes of perforation; Thanks to its thermoformability, was obtained the desired relief without visible joints and were manufactured large panels. UV resistant, Corian ® is a material that does not need to be replaced in the event of impact, but can be easily repaired and refurbished by sanding. In addition, a Corian ® façade does not need refurbishing after a few years, a simple cleaning with high pressure is sufficient.