PROJECT DETAILS
The city of light
For the lighting industry stakeholders gathered together in Lyon, the vision for Cluster Lumière was a building that would bring together not just businesses and start-ups, but also engineers and scientists, architects, designers and even artists. In short, this would be a unique place where synergies combine – the first of its kind in Europe, which would be both a driving force and an example of dynamic innovation. Groupe Cardinal won the cluster’s call for projects with a convincing site, concept and use proposal that Joris Boyer, the group’s programme manager, summarises as “a site whose design and operation is supported by Cardinal Promotion’s expertise, and which is brought to life and managed by Cardinal Workside.”
Where is the site? The ZAC Confluence II, in south-central Lyon, is an icon of sustainable urban planning. What will it look like and how will it work? The concept is based on people’s new working lifestyles and their nomadic property habits: a “hub” in the sense of a network for humans as well as for utility and business. Lumen, La Cité de La Lumière first emerged in January 2022, projecting its elegant nine-storey façade onto the Quai du Rhône, with 5,800 m2 of office space, meeting rooms, communal areas and terraces, all orchestrated by architects a+ samueldelmas.
Versatile possibilities
At 51 metres long and 16 metres wide, “the building meets the urban design specifications defined by Herzog and De Meuron with the Atelier Ruelle”, explains Samuel Delmas. Behind the “simplicity of design and style” lay the challenge of accommodating different uses: reception and hospitality on the ground floor; research and education on the first and second floors; a business hotel with office space and different configurations; function rooms opening onto terraces and a rooftop garden on the top floor. And all while interpreting the issue of light – both natural and artificial – within the technical and creative dimensions of the building.
The answer lies in a structure that combines a central concrete section, a peripheral metal framework and exposed solid cross-laminated timber flooring to form free office spaces “linked by double-height interior voids or terraces”. And finally, the building envelope: between a fully glazed base and the top floor area which is recessed behind a wide screen-printed glass wall, the façades are alternating bands of textured concrete and ribbon windows that create infinite plays of light and shadow, by day and by night. A virtuoso performance by Calcagni Métallerie and WICONA.
The WICONA product solutions: performance, aesthetics and adaptability
The WICTEC 60 stick system curtain wall was chosen for the fully glazed base punctuated by varying degrees of transparency. Hoisted to a double height of “7.2 metres without any inter-mediate fulcrum”, as Ludovic Joannon, the managing director of Calcagni Métallerie is keen to emphasise, this structure accommodates clear and frosted insulated glazed units and shadow boxes. Three large sliding doors made with WICSLIDE 160 frame profiles, one of which is au-tomatic, open to reveal the ground floor spaces. Their anodised aluminium finish perfectly complements the whole sensation of luminosity.
On the upper floors, the ribbon windows with painted RAL 7022 Umbra Grey frames run along the four façades. The WICLINE 75 evo product solution chosen for this meets the requirements for thermal insulation and light transmission, while also providing high-performance glazing with varying acoustic specifications, depending on the level of exposure (31 to 38 dB). The fixed lights, with their butt joined corners, alternate with concealed-sash windows and five double-height (6 metres high x 7 metres wide) loggias and one single-height loggia, are recessed 2 metres into the façade; each of these is equipped with a single-leaf WICSTYLE 65 door.
