BioMérieux wanted a new showcase building, as a powerful symbol at the entrance to its production site in Craponne.
In order to preserve the campus feel and echo the existing buildings, the idea of using brick was adopted right from the project's outset. Selected in a 40cm format to lend a decidedly modern architectural style, it livens up three cube-shaped buildings, connected by large glazed areas, framed with concrete and bathed in natural light.
This long brick, used to make solid walls at the corners and on the tall sections, is also used in the style of a Moucharabiya lattice screen on all the façades, like fine, delicate lace. A principle that is also evident inside the building in a search for aesthetic qualities but also acoustic performance. When installed in front of a concrete wall, in open spaces or over three levels in the entrance hall, for example, the Moucharabiya becomes a real sound trap, absorbing the echo effect.
In order to create these XXL Moorish-style lattice screens and meet the demands of the regulatory body as regards wind and earthquake resistance, a reinforcement system had to be designed with metal elements. Vêture & Co developed a completely invisible technical solution: 3x3cm metal rods were fitted on each level for the custom-designed Terreal bricks, each pierced with two holes, to be slid into them.
Another ingenious touch involved the Moucharabiya-style lattice screens positioned in front of the concrete walls, as the metal rods for holding the bricks in place would have breached the proofing, so the installation company had the idea of designing a trompe-l'œil effect. A clever optical illusion, achieved by combining red bricks with black bricks installed so they are set back in the voids!
Whether true or false, this haute-couture embroidery certainly embellishes the building. Airy netting that seems to take on a kind of gloss as darkness falls and the artificial lighting passes through the Moucharabiya screens to cast a warm gleam over the façades.