The historic 19th-century building La Poste du Louvre - the former headquarters of the Paris post office - has been transformed by French architect Dominique Perrault into a vibrant, mixed-use complex with a typically urban character. An important element of this successful transformation is the modern glass structures that helped create a contemporary public building. Spanish company GRUPO ALUMAN and its suppliers were responsible for their construction: VitroChaves and SWISSPACER.
La Poste du Louvre building, erected by architect Julien Guadet in the center of Paris in 1888, has contributed to the history of the French Post Office for nearly a century and a half. As postal services evolved, the building underwent a series of modernizations during this time. Even at the time of its construction, Julien Guadet recognized La Poste as a building that, by design, should allow for continuous adaptations - as the spatial needs of the post office changed. Behind the classicist stone facades, therefore, are the building technologies of the industrial age. By using long-span iron trusses, Gustave Eiffel's peers created large, hall-like spaces that still offer great flexibility today.
The design of the facade was commissioned from Spanish firm GRUPO ALUMAN. The glazing was made
by its Portuguese partner, VitroChaves.
photo: © @pallop - fotografía de arquitectura
An ambitious transformation project
The current redevelopment of La Poste du Louvre is part of a series of major projects to modernize historic buildings in the heart of Paris and give them new uses (these also include the Parisian department store La Samaritaine). The project's owner and promoter, Poste Immo, a real estate subsidiary of La Poste-Gruppe, announced an architectural competition in 2012, which was won by French architect Dominique Perrault. His urban-architectural concept was to open the building, previously closed to the outside world, to the city, making it available for public use and exposing the charm of industrial architecture. The 32,000-square-meter complex will serve a variety of uses - from a 5-star hotel with 82 rooms, a restaurant and a bar on a panoramic rooftop, to stores, social housing and offices, as well as services for the city's residents, such as a historic post office, a police station and a day care center for children.
La Poste's opening to the city was realized architecturally through new arcades, galleries and five covered passages that converge on an inner courtyard. There is a new urban plaza surrounded by glass facades that let in the maximum amount of daylight and provide panoramic views.
The 32,000-square-meter complex includes a 5-star hotel,
stores, social housing and offices, and service facilities for the city's residents, including a historic post office.
Photo: © @pallop - fotografía de arquitectura
Maintaining versatility through high quality materials
Despite the far-reaching modernization, Julien Guadet's concept of a flexible building was maintained. This was achieved by preserving the monumental structures and industrial character of the building and combining them with elements with a decidedly modern expression. Restored vaulted ceilings, exposed Eiffel-style metal structures and brick ceilings up to 6.80 meters high give the floors a unique character, while new glass facades and glass roofs ensure optimal daylight flow and a completely new hall aesthetic.
The stone facade on the street side has been restored to its original architectural quality and enhanced with concave windows. They give the facade new depth and let in more natural light. Original iron structures - including trusses and columns - have also been restored and exposed. The requirements of modern fire protection are met by a new superstructure that functions independently of the old one and can take on additional loads.
Glass facades and glazed roofs ensure an optimal supply of natural light,
and the SWISSPACER Ultimate warm spacer guarantees exceptional energy efficiency and an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
photo: © @pallop - fotografía de arquitectura
A modern element incorporated into the facility's traditional overall design is the glass facade that surrounds the entire interior courtyard from the first to second floors. Together with new skylights, it creates a varied play of light and reflections in the interior.
Individual selection of glazing characteristics for each room
The large glazed areas have been carefully designed to meet all requirements for high sound and thermal insulation, as well as fire resistance. The courtyard's facades consist of a curtain wall mullion and transom structure with aluminum cladding and double glazing. A total of 5,500 square meters of curtain walls have been equipped with various features, depending on the requirements of the rooms behind them: bullet-proof glass for the police station, and burglar and fire-resistant glass otherwise. The five-star hotel received a 2,000-square-meter glass facade with acoustic panels, the two-story office wings were fitted with glass roofs with high-transparency glass and textile exterior blinds, while a glazed steel facade was designed for the panoramic restaurant terrace.
Photo: © @pallop - fotografía de arquitectura
The demanding task of constructing the facades was entrusted to Spanish company GRUPO ALUMAN, while the glazing was carried out by its partner VitroChaves.
In the insulating glass units, the architects used SWISSPACER premium warm spacers. The SWISSPACER Ultimate spacer in black was used in almost all the glazing on all levels of the building. It stands out for its excellent quality, superior energy efficiency and noble appearance. Thanks to the good cooperation with SWISSPACER on this demanding and prestigious project, GRUPO ALUMAN will take into account the possibility of using the spacer from the Swiss manufacturer in other facade projects now and in the future.
For more information, visit the company's SWISSPACER page on the A&B portal.
