Recladding Façades in an Amalgam of History and Technology

By Editorial Staff - 7 October 2021
Simeon has participated in the project

Restoration is an essential part of regenerating a building heritage on the road to meeting new architectural, performance and financial demands, while also bolstering environmental sustainability. It is an act that brings new life to urban centers, but avoids using new land and increases the value of existing real estate. Based in Udine, Simeon has extensive experience in building and installing complex façades and structures and it now brings this experience to “recladding”, specifically upgrading building envelopes by overlapping or replacing a façade.

Simeon’s project portfolio includes upgrading the Cloud office complex in the heart of Paris, near the Opéra Garnier. This office center is owned by Société Foncière Lyonnaise and consists of four buildings constructed in different periods, covering a total of over 38,000 sq. m. The regeneration project was the work of the PCA-STREAM Philippe Chiambaretta Architecte practice, with Simeon brought in to manage 10,000 sq. m of façade. The street-facing elevation and the one overlooking the interior courtyard are made of 3x3 m glass modules with a white aluminum frame that is divided vertically into three sections by intermediate mullions. The same pattern is used for the double skin with curved glass and ventilated air gap in the corner of the building and the glass roof over the inner courtyard.

In Paris, Simeon is also busy with a recladding project that is part of extending the old SMABTP (Société Mutuelle d’Assurance sur la Vie du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics) headquarters in the XV arrondissement, where the YM Architecture practice is in charge of the project. Here, Simeon is working on 9,200 sq. m of glazed façade and ribbon windows on the original building, which will be clad with a glazed façade that uses a pleated pattern to create a sense of movement, and on the extension, which is defined by an asymmetrical concrete exoskeleton that protrudes from the façade by about 30 cm in a conical pattern that is then picked up by the glazed parapets. The final touch in this design is the walkway connecting the new section to the old 20^th-century section, which has a completely transparent façade.

Simeon’s projects in Italy include the façade for the new Eataly sales outlet in Trieste, a project fundamentally about regenerating an old wine warehouse along the seafront. The project by Archea Associati does not change the original volume, but carves out a new, independent building inside it with four levels. For this structure, the façade has a corten steel framework and double-glazed infills. The metal structure is placed inside the laminated glass and positioned differently to the triple glazing to create a 3D-effect for the envelope. There are also some intriguing details, such as the canopy projecting from the historic walls, once again in corten, and the ribbon windows with a 9-m span that offers an enviable view of the sea from the restaurant.