Cibetec low-carbon architectural concrete brings the facades of a student residence in Ivry-sur-Seine to life

Among the facilities built, the project owner HIBANA built the new campus of the ESIEA engineering school, an urban agriculture greenhouse and a student residence.

The latter's façade is made up of 315 prefabricated pieces of low-carbon architectural white concrete from CIBETEC, with two elegant finishes: fine sanded leather and strong sanded leather.

Elements that resonate with the high environmental ambitions of this eco-district and which contribute to the High Environmental Quality certification at excellent level and the RE2020 labeling of the building.

A neighborhood for everyone, to live and work

Selected in the New Urban Renewal Program (NPNRU) of the National Agency for Urban Renewal, this large-scale development should allow, after the demolition of the Cité Gagarine, the development of a mixed-use neighborhood with new housing, offices, business premises, and shops. On this 13-hectare ZAC, numerous public facilities (new school group, gymnasium, daycare, etc.) will be created and two new access points to the RER C station will be created.

With nearly 40% of the area dedicated to public spaces, developments to promote soft and pedestrian traffic, the development of urban agriculture and 1 trees eventually planted, the district will offer a pleasantly renewed living environment.

Student residence: a facade enlivened by two low-carbon prefabricated concrete finishes from CIBETEC

Led by the developer HIBANA, the construction of the 310-room, 18-story student residence was carried out by the Habitat Résidentiel teams of Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France.

To meet the environmental and economic objectives of the project, the architectural firm BRENAC & GONZALEZ & ASSOCIÉS designed a 50 m high building whose facade consists of a module corresponding to the dimensions of two bedrooms. This is repeated on the different levels, playing on symmetry effects thanks to parts incorporating glazed frames as well as hollow joints and others with solid, slightly recessed parts. "We wanted to work these modules with molding elements and hollow effects giving relief to the facade. During the study, we pushed the choice of prefabricated concrete and we very quickly approached CIBETEC. We were looking for white concrete, but one that didn't look like plaster, with a stone appearance and a slightly sanded tint." explains the architect Mr. Maréchaux.

Thus, based on samples produced by CIBETEC, the architect chose a white concrete with two different finishes: one with a strong sanded leather appearance for all the recessed areas as well as those in the sill and transom of the bay windows; the other with a fine sanded leather appearance for the rest of the prefabricated parts (posts, beams, etc.). "Depending on the light, the façade comes alive thanks to the material and relief effects produced by these two finishes, which highlight the concrete aggregates and the layout of the modules. We were impressed by the quality of the surface treatment of Cibetec's architectural concretes. Their rendering quality is nothing short of exquisite!" adds Mr. Maréchaux.

To meet the project's budget, the architect also worked with CIBETEC's teams to optimize the number of modules and molds for their prefabrication. Thus, 4 corner molds and 3 panel molds were produced to create the 315 prefabricated concrete pieces of the 2400 m² facade.

With CIBETEC prefabricated concrete representing 98% of the façade, their low-carbon manufacturing was also a determining factor in the architect's choice in order to meet the environmental objectives of the building, which is certified High Environmental Quality, excellent level and RE2020 labeled.

A high-quality prefabricated facade, assembled in 6 months

Built by Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France, the construction of the facades took only six months. Each facade of the residence is composed, on average, of 6 prefabricated concrete elements from CIBETEC (walls and lintels).

Structural, the panels are keyed together vertically and connected in the slab with thermal breaks at the top. They are pinned to the panel below, which guarantees the airtightness of the building.

For Stéphane Da Costa Dias, construction manager at BOUYGUES Bâtiment Ile-de-France: "CIBETEC produced 2 to 3 pieces per day, which they delivered to the construction site on time. A complete floor was completed every 8 days, and two people installed the façade walls. The quality was always there thanks to the flat pouring of the prefabricated concrete in the factory. I would recommend this supplier because they were very thorough in their communication, delivery times, and site monitoring."