La Samaritaine

Paris, France

Source: Profile Magazin

Edition 26

Information about the reference project

Type of building:	Office and Business
Products:	Entrances, Façades
Series:	VISS Basic, Janisol 2 EI30, VISS Fire
Location:	Paris, France
Completion:	2020
Architects:	Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / S A N A A,MEF - Maison Edouard François
Specialist company:	FRENER & REIFER GmbH
Picture credits:	Florian Kleinefenn 2020

Project details

La Samaritaine, once the largest department store in Paris, has been completely renovated. The aim of the conversion and extension work was to create a mixed-use hotel, office and residential space, as well as a significantly smaller department store. For the new department store building, the Japanese architecture duo SA-NAA developed an undulating glass façade that runs in front of the thermal façade at a distance of half a metre to one-and-a-half metres. The individual curved glass panels are attached to the thermal façade at only four points by means of support arms, which are made of laser-welded stainless steel profiles. The ground floor is accessed via eleven double-leaf, 3.30-met-re tall swing doors in the undulating glass façade. Jansen developed all of the 22 leaves in close collaboration with Frener & Reifer based on the Janisol 2 EI 30 steel profile system as fire-resistant swing doors. Despite their enormous size, the extra-high leaves operate extremely smoothly and can be opened with minimal effort.

Source: Profile magazine, issue 26

Download the profile 26 here (pdf, 8.4 MB)

Product information

VISS Basic

Steel add-on construction for innovative solutions with maximum process reliability during fabrication

Based on the tried-and-tested VISS modular system, VISS Basic offers economical and stylish system solutions for steel façade constructions that can be mounted on any support. There is a free choice of shape and material for the load-bearing structure.

Individual architectural accents can be created through the outer covering of the load-bearing structure by means of aluminium cover cap profiles in a range of basic depths and contours.

All-round fire protection system with multiple applications

As an all-round fire protection system for door and fixed glazing constructions, Janisol 2 EI30 (T30/F30) combines the highest in building safety standards with optimal design freedom.

The narrow and highly stable steep profiles of the system enable solutions for special applications which meet all the requirements of demanding architecture, such as stainless steel, butt joint glazing, anti-finger-trap doors and clad doors with transparent toplights and sidelights.

Flexible fire-resistant façade – maximum security with an attractive design

VISS Fire is the steel profile system for all standard fire-resistance classes, which also allows attractive façades to be created flexibly without compromising on security or design.

The fire protection system can be freely combined with standard VISS façades – with a consistent, uniform look thanks to identical façade elevations.

Slimline face widths with large areas of glass provide maximum light penetration and the highest level of transparency.

The system is designed for vertical façades in all tested fire resistance classes for internal and external use (E30/60/90, EI30/60/90), and approved in combination with Janisol 2 fire doors for internal use.