Fort de France, Martinique (France)
Cool temperatures and transparency at the Appeals Court

The Fort-de-France Appeals Court, built opposite the former Courthouse, has generous volumes for welcoming, bright and comfortable spaces. "The building consists of a hollow parallelepiped, thus creating an urban breathing space, […] appearing like an object placed at the center of its urban setting" says Gilles Bouchez.
The courtyard leading the visitors to the transparent through-hall is surrounded by immense, earthquake-resistant, stainless steel Saint Andrew's crosses. Although the courtrooms and offices are air-conditioned, the passageways and hallway have a natural ventilation and are cooled by the large patios acting as air extraction chimneys.
"Solar control is by screen printed toughened glass brise-soleil screen. The glass panels are spaced so as to create a natural ventilation. This double-skin façade is designed to be hurricane resistant. " The GEODE structural sealant glazing curtain wall, the SOLEAL doors and windows and the SAFETYLINE  louver systems were manufactured and installed by the FACE company.

Architect: Gilles Bouchez
Aluminum company: FACE
Photos: Axel Dahl

Find out more about the SOLEAL door
Find out more about the SOLEAL window
Find out more about the SAFETYLINE louvre system
Find out more about GEODE SSG curtain-wall

Québec, Canada
GALENE, the panoramic sliding window

The Vitrerie Laberge company, representing the TECHNAL brand in Canada, designed, manufactured and installed the aluminum joinery of this house in Rimouski, a small town located 180 miles downstream of Quebec, in the Saint-Laurent estuary. 
To optimize the view of the areas of exceptional beauty, the house has large sliding windows which resist the severe weather conditions: the windows were installed at temperatures of -30° to -40°C depending on the winds! Guy Ross, the Vitrerie Laberge Project Manager and Chief Estimator, particularly for this private house, recommended the GALENE lift & slide window. "The customer, who is the Owner of Project, one of the most beautiful in my career, chose our company to design curtain walls providing maximum transparency and thermal comfort" says Guy Ross. "I presented the TECHNAL solutions to him, particularly the GALENE lift & slide system. This  principle consists of retracting the guide rollers when closing the leaf, which enables us to offer full height bay windows fitted with heavy thermal glazing. The quality of the appearance and performances of the GALENE convinced my customer. And TECHNAL quality proved itself once again, the result is impeccable, the customer is delighted. Another advantage: the multipoint locks each use the same cylinders allowing each sliding window to be opened with the same key." The black powder-coated finish sliding windows – 4 with 2 leaves on the ground floor and 2 with 2 leaves upstairs – have triple Thermos glazing.

Architect: David Savard
Aluminum company: Vitrerie Laberge
Photos: Stéphane Groleau

Find out more about the GALENE lift & slide window

Safran, France
Very high energy efficient offices

Safran, the international high technology group specialized in the aeronautics, space, defense and security sectors will shortly inaugurate its new Toulouse site. These new premises, located in the Andromède activity zone near the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport and in the heart of Greater Toulouse's first eco-district, cover a total area of 25,000 m².

The project by the Wilmotte & Associés Architectes agency and Altarea Cogedim, has been designed so that its functional organization and its organizational efficiency are similar to the distributive model used for airports. In this case the hub acts as a key interface zone and is based around three major entities: a shared services base, a silo car park and bright and flexible office platforms. The three buildings like three long, slender white lines extend towards the unitary structure of the silo cark park, whose bluish textile membrane amplifies the site's feeling of brightness and transparency.

The geometrical façades of the three buildings form an elegant and coherent ensemble which gives the project a controlled and timeless appearance. They have large openings bathing the spaces in natural light thanks to the SOLEAL range composite assemblies, the slenderness of whose visible aluminum structures adds a touch of elegance and style. The aluminum profiles specially designed for this project create a tubular projection 30 x 70 mm on the façade. Their anodized satin silver color, which recreates a primary aluminum appearance, gives them an extraordinary clarity and brightness, in perfect harmony with the covering of the façade.

The SOLEAL windows range also offers exceptional thermal, acoustic and water performance which have contributed to the construction of these very high environmental performance offices, with easy accessibility and optimum comfort. The 6,330 m² of GEODE façades with pressure plates installed on the glazed band of the services base and on the gable walls of the three buildings complete this sleek-lined architectural project. These curtain walls have an exceptionally flexible geometrical composition and sealing which ensures, among other things, rapid drainage of the building's residual water. GEODE also provides high level thermal and acoustic performance. 

Architectural agency: Wilmotte & Associés Architectes
Aluminum company: Gayrel on the frames for 6,642 m² and the design, Realco on the 6,000 m² of curtain walls
Photos: Philippe Ruault

Find out more about the SOLEAL window
Find out more about the GEODE façade

Nathan Suites, Singapore
A gliding movement of the façades

Nathan Suites is a luxury residential building with 24 floors and 65 apartments with private elevator. Whatever its position, each apartment has a panoramic view of the landscape park and exceptional botanical gardens. Designed by the famous international architect Jun Mitsui, the building, with its sleek and elegant lines, evokes the gliding movement of birds riding on the wind.
The aluminum company "Jan Facade Technology Pte Ltd" which installed the TECHNAL joinery elements for the Hotel W project in Sentosa (Singapore) was impressed by the quality and performance of the TECHNAL GB + sliding system. TECHNAL invited the Nathan Suites real estate developer and architect Jun Mitsui to visit Hotel W. They were impressed by the esthetic design of the TECHNAL sliding windows, their easy operation and the acoustic performance level, they chose the TECHNAL sliding windows, fixed windows and doors.

Architect: Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc. Architects
Aluminum company: Jan Facade Technology Pte Ltd
Photos: Jun Mitsui & Associates Inc. Architect

Find out more about the TECHNAL joinery elements

Aimé Césaire School, France
Studying with a view of the landscape, walking through the pine trees

The Aimé Césaire School located right in the heart of the pine forest in the Landes region of France has around 450 pupils. Its linear layout places the administrative and restaurant spaces to the East, and the documentation center and classrooms to the West. The building's envelope is covered with a wooden ladder structure which is superimposed on the slender and minimalist lines of the GEODE curtain walls. This lightweight architecture adds fluidity to the volumes, improves the landscape perspectives and facilitates pupil and staff movements.
The façades are interrupted by three glazed separations and a sawtooth roof created using GEODE solutions. This crystalline envelope provides diffused and optimum sunlight in the classrooms and passageways. It creates a pattern of transparencies and links the building's architecture like an interstitial fabric.
The school meets the HQE standard. To the South, the façade integrates 455 m² of SUNEAL aluminum brise-soleil which, in combination with the thermally high performance GEODE solutions, regulate the heat gain. In summer, the sun's rays are filtered whereas the heat generously penetrates into the building in winter. This ensures the comfort of the occupants and guarantees a reduction in costs for the owner.

Architectural agency: Patrick Arotcharen (64) - Orane Garrigos Project Manager
TECHNAL-approved Aluminum company: Labastère (64), France
Photos: Mathieu Choiselat and Vincent Monthiers

Find out more about the GEODE curtain-walls
Find out more about the SUNEAL brise-soleil

New AMBIAL brochure

Discover our brochure on the new AMBIAL Multi-space Folding Door.

Find out more about the AMBIAL door

TECHNAL e-book, new update

The TECHNAL e-book is an interactive application for tablets and smartphones which presents the brand's emblematic projects by the greatest contemporary architects, with many photographs and details of the products used. This update adds new projects to the e-book.
The TECHNAL e-book is available on the TECHNAL web sites, it is directly integrated in the TECHNAL APP for tablets, and it will soon be available for downloading on Google Play and Appstore.

Consult the TECHNAL e-book