Guillaume Dominguez 06:14, 04 June 2023

While the France is preparing to undergo an increase of 4 degrees on average by 2100, the Stream Building, inaugurated this week Porte de Clichy in Paris and sporting a green façade, seems to meet all the criteria of tomorrow's environmentally friendly buildings.

Faced with the threats posed by global warming, all eyes are turning to the solutions of the future. Energy saving, green production, recycling, all measures that are recommended to be adopted in all production sectors, including buildings. And while the France is preparing to undergo an increase of four degrees on average by 2100, and the High Council on Climate denounces insufficient government measures, the city of Paris has welcomed a new building, called "Stream Building" near the Porte de Clichy. Winner of the "Reinventing Paris" call for projects launched in 2015 by the capital, the building inaugurated this week meets all the criteria of tomorrow's environmentally friendly buildings.

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From the Paris ring road, the building looks like a stack of glass boxes lined with green facades. Eight storeys high, 120 meters long, its glass façade reflects the new courthouse located on the sidewalk opposite. Designed in the form of square blocks, the 16,200 m² dictate its shape to the building. Shops and a café at the foot of the building, offices on the upper floors, a 109-room hotel at the top for an amount of more than 164 million euros. Under its modern appearance, the building hides an architectural innovation: an entirely wooden frame.

1,400 tons of CO2 absorbed by wood

"There is a regulation that imposes a concrete core. Apart from that, everything else, the beams, the floors, the posts, are made of wood," explains Xavier Musseau, director of the Hines company and co-promoters of the Stream Building. "Wood brings comfort to users, and a certain aesthetic, but there is above all a carbon virtue. This wooden structure can absorb more than 1,400 tons of CO2, knowing that one ton of CO2 corresponds to one trip from Paris to New York by plane per inhabitant." A wooden structure from a French production sector. The choice of this wooden structure, cut and assembled off-site, also made the construction of the building cleaner, unlike conventional concrete constructions.

The building has a wooden
structure Photo credit: Stream Building/Jean-Philippe Mesguen

The building is both clean in its construction but also in its operation. The Stream Building was designed "to put the living at the heart of the building," says architect Philippe Chiambaretta, head of the PCA-Stream agency. Climbing plants rise via ropes to the ceiling, splitting the building in its center by a "great plant fault". In addition to the aesthetic side, the fault aims to bring freshness to the building through the center. Coupled with a green façade that protects from the sun, "the objective is to limit energy consumption as much as possible," says Philippe Chiambaretta.

The building is split in its center by a veteran
façade Photo credit: Stream Building/Olivier Ouadah.

"This building is a laboratory for the city of tomorrow"

A green façade composed of hops, which allows the Stream Building to brew its own beer in its basement. 20,000 liters per year, to be tasted exclusively in the building. On the roof, in addition to photovoltaic panels that will produce 15% of the building's consumption, a 300 m² urban farm will grow vegetables and herbs. "The vegetable garden produces vegetables for the restaurant, organic waste from restaurants provides compost, and compost is used to grow new vegetables," says Xavier Musseau.

The building will produce its own beer
Photo credit: Stream Building/Jean-Philippe Mesguen

"This building is a laboratory of the city of tomorrow, conceived as an ecosystem bringing together under one roof all the activities of urban life and living 24 hours a day. The gates of Paris are places of passage, we wanted to make it a place where we stop", adds Olivier Estève, Deputy CEO of Covivio.

"We wanted a building that could adapt"

The other challenge is to meet today's societal needs. The façade displays a fairly simple square grid, reminiscent of a grid, and allows the interior to be organized into identical and interchangeable modules. "The building can evolve, what is a hotel today can be an office tomorrow," he continues.

Inside, the building is intended to be interchangeable.
Photo credit: Stream Building/Salem Mostefaoui.

With Covid, we have noticed that everything has changed, we no longer work in the same way, we no longer live in the same way, and we no longer consume in the same way. So we wanted a building that could adapt," explains Philippe Chiambaretta. The building is composed of blocks with standard measurements - height, length, depth - able to meet the needs of any type of activity.