Project information
| Project: | le19M |
| Location: | Paris, France |
| Application: | UHPC |
| Component: | Facade |
| Delivery period: | 2019 |
| Requirement: | 231 modules with a width of 2.5 m, a height of 24 metres |
| Concrete: | C150/165 |
| Fibre type: | DG 14/0.2 - E 304 |
| Fibre dosage: | 280 kg/m³ |
Chanel and Paris
Where extravagance meets innovation
© le19M - Chloé Le Reste
Few fashion houses embody the elegant extravagance of French haute couture like Chanel – and nowhere is this spirit more vividly expressed than in Paris. The city where Coco Chanel made fashion history remains the creative heart of the brand.
le19M was created by CHANEL to bring together under one roof 12 Maisons d’art and manufactures, and a multidisciplinary gallery, le19M. All in all, 700 craftsmen and experts have been brought together in a building offering working conditions conducive to individual fulfillment, and enabling the development of new perspectives in the service of the biggest names in fashion and luxury.
© Lisa Ricciotti
Where Concrete becomes Couture
UHPC and le19M
The design of this residence dedicated to creation and transmission was entrusted to the renowned architect Rudy Ricciotti, a winner of the Grand Prix d’Architecture and the creator, amongst other projects, of the MuCEM in Marseille.
For le19M, Rudy Ricciotti imagined a complex wrapped in woven concrete threads inspired by a vertical textile weft. The white exoskeleton is made up of 231 modules made of UHPC with a width of 2.5 m, a height of 24 metres and a weight of 5 tonnes.
The structure acts like a sun protection net as it expands and contracts depending on its orientation and the amount of sunlight. The slender components were manufactured monolithically as pre-stressed prefabricated parts from a white UHPC. The construction time for the façade elements was 7 months. The ultra-high-strength concrete is made with 280kg/m³ KrampeHarex stainless steel fibres of type DG 14/0.2 - E 304.
The 25,500 m2 complex in the extremely dynamic Aubervilliers neighbourhood is a tailor-made showcase for the 700 artisans and experts who work here on a daily basis. It is part of an ambitious architectural and ecological concept that emphasises sustainability, energy efficiency and a biodiverse garden in the inner courtyard of the complex.
The building has been awarded the following environmental certifications and labels: NF HQE Standard for Tertiary Buildings, Exceptional; BREEAM International certification, Excellent; LEED V4 / silver + biodiversity certification.
"Why am I so fascinated by UHPC? The buildings that are created with UHPC seem to be from another world."
What exactly is UHPC?
Typical tensile stress-strain behavior of FRC and UHPC (Naaman, 2003)
UHPC or UHPFRC (Ultra-high-performance fibre reinforced concrete) has outstanding material properties to enable structures and architectural works of art that far surpass conventional concrete construction in terms of processing time, intricacy and durability.
UHPC contains steel fibres between 1.5 % to 3 % of the total volume (120 kg/m3 and 240 kg/m3 ). The high micro steel fibre content to provide a strain-hardening behavior under tension and a ductile failure mode under compression. The relatively high content of steel fibres avoids a brittle failure when very high stresses under compression or bending are reached.
UHPC reaching 150 MPa under compression and showing a strain hardening load deflection behavior, a high packing density with a grain size of 5 mm and a water/cement ratio below 0.25.
KrampeHarex steel fibres guarantee these outstanding properties and make it possible to replace or reduce the reinforcement. Our stainless steel microfibres guarantee the structural and aesthetic properties and allow components to have a service life of 100 to 120 years.
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