The French Lycée in Dakar wins the 2012 AFEX* Prize

The jury of the 2012 AFEX* Prize for French architecture worldwide met on 29 March in Paris and awarded the prize to the Jean-Mermoz French Lycée in Dakar (Senegal). This operation's program covers the whole of the education sector, from nursery level to the baccalaureate and includes a large number of sports facilities. 2,400 pupils of forty nationalities and their teachers, and the administrative staff share 17,000 m² of buildings and 40,000 m² of grounds.

This highly contemporary project makes appropriate use of various passive thermal solutions, particularly for its natural cooling which is largely based on a ventilated double wall system.
Due to the size of the operation and the very short deadlines, most of the buildings where constructed of concrete masonry blocks but "local know-how was also used to the maximum" says the Terreneuve Agency: "woven" metalwork grills, railings and guardrails, courtyard of basalt flagstones, floors made of concrete with shells, broken tiles. [...] Finally, the installation of solar panels for the sanitary hot water, systems encouraging rainwater infiltration, and the installation of a self-contained treatment plant for recycling wastewater for watering the outdoor areas complete the High Environmental Quality approach initiated by the agency right from the design phase and competition stage.

To limit the solar radiation without reducing the natural light, the doors and windows have been placed slightly back from the main structure. Casements, sliding systems and doors are all from the TOPAZE range by Technal, the only brand able to meet the architects' specific requirement: create a jalousie with fixed part larger than the standard jalousie to maintain the same attractive appearance at the top and bottom of the frame. Technal simply adapted it SAFETYLINE jalousie to respect this requirement.

*Association "Architectes Français à l'Export" (Association of French architects promoting French architectural and urban management throughout the world)

Contracting authority: Agence pour l'Enseignement Français à l'Étranger (Agency for French teaching abroad)
Prime contractor: Terreneuve architectes -Nelly Breton and Olivier Fraisse-, with Adam Yedid and Architecture et Climat.
Aluminium company: Mischler Sénégal, Dakar

For further information about Topaze, click here

For further information about Safetyline, click here

St Barthélemy, West Indies
A villa on a terrace roof

This 350 m² villa on the 700 m² terrace roof of a 4-storey residential building offers its users a view just as stunning as a single storey cliff-edge villa: plants and shrubs, flowers and private pool, Ocean and yachting marina. Here architect Nicolas Lossent has used an architectural strategy which "avoids creating small openings in the walls at all costs, never shattering the dream of living in a villa of light" he confides. "To obtain the play of light and shadows specific to villas, I have created and alternate solid and open effect using the Technal TOPAZE full height sliding system and opaque walls."

The AVM company with which Nicolas Lossent regularly works "because of the quality of the Technal products and AVM's know-how" has fabricated and installed the joinery for the villa and for the building's other floors: TOPAZE and TOPAZE+ sliding systems, brise-soleils for the stairwells and GYPSE double-post guardrails on the passageways at the rear of the building.

The joinery is in a Grained brown finish, an Exclusive Technal colour in total harmony with the building's dark tones.

Architect : Nicolas Lossent Lotus Architectes, St-Barthélémy
Aluminium joinery manufacture and installation: AVM, St-Barthélémy

For further information about Topaze, click here

For further information about Gypse, click here

... WORLD

Philippines
A multi-coloured tower on 5th avenue… in Manila

Construction has just begun in this 27 storey office block designed by Esteban Y Tan & Associates. The architect Esteban Tan explains that he chose a Technal facade "because the brand offered a design which met all our requirements and because Technal products are synonymous with quality and innovation. And apart from the products, we regularly work with Technal because the collaboration has always been solid and efficient due to the technical support by Joe Sleiman, Hydro Building Systems International Manager for South-East Asia."

For this tower, Technal has developed a facade concept which is highly appreciated in South-East Asia: the American-design Unitized facade. It is a facade made of elements manufactured with male-female profiles. The frames have 4 different profiles (instead of one for the European-design Unitized facade), each profile has a specific function. The mullions, although thin, have an excellent inertia and the transoms allow movement between the different panels. Joe Sleiman estimates that "this facade concept based on the American-style concept opens up new horizons for the future of the region. It also proves Technal's capacity to fulfil the expectations of a market which is constantly seeking new architectural solutions."

Another demonstration of this creative quality, Technal has developed opening sashes for this facade: they are hidden from view from the exterior and also from the interior, for an increasingly minimalist and pure design. This esthetic design which is dear to architect Esteban Tan, takes on a playful air with the use of coloured glazing randomly distributed over the facade's 14,500 m². To complete this unusual design, LED ribbons integrated in the facade give the project a resolutely futuristic touch.

Architect: Esteban Y Tan & Associates on behalf of Arquitechtonica
Aluminium company: Manila Technical Systems Co.

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The Parliament of the Province of Tucuman
The power and transparency of parliamentary democracy

Opposite the Urquiza Square, the Parliament of the Tucuman Province displays the same canons of beauty as neoclassical architecture but with the functions of a modern architecture.
The building is divided into 3 clearly defined sectors: the administrative areas in the lower parts, the session rooms, auditorium and offices on the 3rd and 4th floors, and the offices of the MPs and senators and the commission rooms on floors 5 to 8.

The structure forms a rectangular prism made of a single block of concrete and glass. For Federico Witko, the project's architect, "this association of concrete, walls and glass skin asserts the power and transparency which are the universal values of parliamentary democracy".

The construction techniques used here are particularly innovative for the region: anti-seismic structure for each level, air conditioning system, glass skin. This skin covers almost 8000 m², and was produced with Technal's GEODE curtain wall, equipped with double glazing.

Federico Witko, the project's architect, explains that he chose the GEODE curtain wall because "it has excellent thermal and acoustic performance and adds much transparency to the facade. In addition to the product's great qualities, I appreciated Technal's active collaboration right from the start of the project and during the design of its technical aspects where the brand was able to propose highly effective solutions. We are also very satisfied with the quality of manufacture of the joinery produced by Tensolite and with the installation by Abalum."

Contracting authority: Parliament of the Province of Tucuman
Project architect: Federico Witko, Peralta Ramos Sepra.
Construction architects: Mario Macció-Ing. Ricardo Ramos- Arq. Francisco J. Araoz - Arq. Sandra Juárez
Aluminium joinery manufacturer: Tensolite.
Aluminium joinery installer: Abalum.

France
A touch of aluminium on Sireuil stone

The 300 m² residence with 30 m² garage is the result of the rehabilitation of an authentic structure typical of the Charentes region of France and is located near the village of St-Amant de Boixe: a wine ageing cellar built in the 19th century.
The building's rehabilitation met the objective of the French low energy building standard (BBC) for renovations, i.e. an annual consumption less than 100 kWh/m², a performance obtained by a high level of thermal insulation (cellulose wadding and wood fibre panels), high thermal performance SOLEAL aluminium joinery (Uw: 1.5 W/m².K and solar factor Sw: 0. 44) and an air circulation provided by dual flow ventilation system. The underfloor heating is supplied by a heat pump.

The project consists of two architectural elements, an old building and a contemporary building located in open fields "giving the possibility for a conversation between nature and architecture" says the architect Laurent Graber of the Looking for Architecture Agency. "The aim was to create a conversation with the great natural landscapes of the Charentes and beyond the territories to enter into a dialog about materials: the traditional stone of the existing building and the contemporary use of stone on the extension building."
Laurent Graber's architectural expression uses combinations of materials and geometries based on Sireuil stone and aluminium which are two durable, discrete and sober materials which highlight the authenticity of the original location.

Thanks to the thin SOLEAL mullions and the addition of many openings, the structure is bathed in natural light in all seasons.
The use of Technal's SOLEAL joinery has harmonized the design of the large doors, windows and patio-doors and has a high thermal performance.

Architect: Looking for Architecture Agency (Lyon, France)
Aluminium joinery manufacture and installation: Technal-approved fabricator and installer Michel Dupuis (Angoulême, France).

This project won the "Rehabilitation - Individual housing" prize of the 10th Technal Architecture & Aluminium Award 2011.

Learn more about SOLEAL

LUMEAL concealed opening sliding window; natural light for design…

The LUMEAL concealed opening sash offers an exceptional design with the thinnest aluminium sight lines on the market: 68 mm and 77 mm with central meeting stile, i.e. 8 % to 14 % additional clear glazing depending on the applications.

With this exclusive design, and concealed drainage whatever the application and with its square-jointed assembly, the LUMEAL sliding sash is the ideal solution for designers of individual housing and collective residences who wish to make the joinery as minimalist as possible. This minimalist design is reinforced by Technal exclusive-design handles which merge into the aluminium mullions without losing their robustness dear to Technal.

For further information about Lumeal, click here

The LUMEAL sliding window comes in versions for many applications:
- 2 to 4 sliding sashes on two 2 tracks and 6 sliding sashes on 3 tracks,
- combinations of 1 sliding sash + 1 symmetrical or dissymmetrical fixed panel,
- combinations of 2 sliding sashes + 1 or 2 symmetrical or dissymmetrical fixed panels.

Now available, this sober and elegantly designed handle perfectly matches the design of the sliding sash.		Available soon, this very square and straight design handle is strictly aligned with the mullion, thus offering a minimum front view.		Available soon, this handle is designed to protrude from the deadbolt and is certainly the most discrete of the three!

The LUMEAL French window has an access threshold for mobility-reduced persons which preserves the sealing performance.		The LUMEAL sliding sash allows very wide windows stretching from floor to ceiling to be produced: 4.50 m (W) x 2.70 m (H).

"Tour de France" of the Technal 2010 and 2011 Architecture Aluminium Awards

The Technal 2010 and 2011 Architecture Aluminium Awards travelling exhibition continues its "Tour de France" of the regional Maisons de l'Architecture in Bordeaux in May, Pau in June and Toulouse in July.

The exhibition is designed for prescribers and highlights the achievements of the participants in this prestigious event through photographs, slide shows and testimonies by architects and Technal-approved fabricators and installers (Aluminier Agréés Technal).
This Technal Architecture & Aluminium event rewards emblematic projects which illustrate a collaboration creating a constructive dialog between architects and Technal-approved fabricators and installers.

The LUMEAL brochure will be soon available in our website:
www.technal-int.com