The Mediatheque at Briis sous Forges

The Mediatheque at Briis sous Forges is a town of over 3000 residents, located 35 km from Paris. The building is one of 56 projects selected by the Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2003 and designated for the improvement of urban areas. One of the Ministry’s priorities is to improve the development and dissemination of information by building modern multimedia libraries and assembly rooms.

“Apart from providing access to knowledge through books and other sources of information, multimedia libraries must also be places that encourage people to socialise and foster citizenship,” says French Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.

Multimedia libraries enjoy high level government support because of the benefits that the provide to the community. At the same time, their design aims to be a showcase for contemporary methods of building construction. The new Mediatheque at Briis sous Forges is an excellent example of this objective.

Conversion and enlargement of an existing market hall for the Mediatheque at Briis sous Forges.

The design of the Mediatheque / multimedia library at Briis sous Forges is based on an existing building located in the centre of the village. This facility had a floor area of 162 m2 with a traditional wooden roof, supported by concrete columns clad in stone, and covered with plain tiles. It was designed to replicate the old market halls which are traditional in the region.

The purpose of the renovation was to increase the size of the facility for local residents in order to accommodate more books and state-of-the-art technology that would allow greater access to other forms of media information and extend the hours of operation.

Out of the existing space, Archicop Groupe architects were able to introduce a mezzanine floor and extend eastward and westward in a cruciform shape. This increased the floor area to 300 m2. The roof structure was retained and enhanced with pre-patinated zinc roofing on the extensions to merge with the existing plain terracotta tiles. New façades were constructed with Pilkington Profilit™ double translucent panel walls which have U-shaped profiles and allow natural, diffused light into the building. This form of glazing, in combination with Cabot’s Nanogel silica aerogel, provides excellent thermal performance in winter and reduced solar heat gain in summer. The South and west gable ends have a frame of aluminium with traditional double-glazing and wooden louvres. The insulation and energy efficiency specification was developed by POUGET Consultants to ensure compliance with the RT 2005 Standards for the thermal performance of new buildings.

Innovative glazing, incorporating the Nanogel aerogel technology, is combined with high performance building components and services.

Summary of project specification:

Geographical location:

Briis sous Forges (French Département 91 - Essonne) zone H1, Eb

Conversion and extension of the old market hall into two storey building;

Maximum height to roof ridge: 8.70m.

Useable floor area of approx. 300m²;

Envelope design: Wooden structure + U-profile Pilkington Profilit™ cladding combined with Cabot’s Nanogel™ translucent aerogel filled panels;

Thermally broken break aluminium and wood louvers;

Condensation boiler + underfloor heating on the ground floor and radiators on the upper level. Mechanical bi-directional flow ventilation equipped with a heat recovery system;

The architects wanted to create a building which would benefit from natural light during the day and, when lit with artificial lights, would glow like a beacon at night. The client, authorities at Briis sous Forge town hall, also wanted the enlarged building to be a sustainable building project.

The glazing system was specified to meet the dual objectives of a building with translucent walls coupled with superior thermal insulation performance and energy efficiency. This was achieved with Cabot’s Nanogel silica aerogel used as the insulant within Pilkington’s Profilit panels. It is the first project of its type to be built in France.

Cabot Corporation’s new insulating material, a translucent granular form of silica aerogel marketed under the name Nanogel, combines high light transmission with excellent energy performance. In winter, the material helped to achieve the required goals for outstanding energy performance, as well as comfort, by reducing the cold wall effect in winter and reducing solar heat gain to provide a comfortable environment in summer.

To achieve these goals, a high performance heating and ventilation system was installed. This system included directional controlled mechanical ventilation that recovers heat from exhaust air and a condensation boiler that feeds an underfloor very low-temperature heating system. The choice of heating beneath the ground floor freed the perimeters and the floors from radiators or any heating appliance that would obstruct daylight or furniture. The condensation boiler was chosen for its ability to recover energy. As a result, most of the heat usually lost is recycled through the heating system, thereby maximising efficiency and reducing energy costs.

It was only possible to design the building and achieve the required high levels of daylighting/energy efficiency by combining Pilkington Profilit panels with Nanogel insulation technology. Despite the fact that the overall area of glazing is large, the insulation of the whole building exceeds the thermal performance required in RT 2005 by approximately 30%.

Double glazed wall cladding, U-shaped profile with silica aerogel for thermal insulation using Profilit™ + Nanogel™ provides: Uw < 1.81 (W/m².K). TL Percentage: 47%, acoustic insulation: 44 dB

The professional team behind the Mediatheque at Briis sous Forges:

Architect: Archicop Groupe, 156 rue Diderot, F-94000 Vincennes.

Vitorio Caldoncelli-Vidal - Tel. +33 1 53 66 97 60 - Fax +33 1 53 66 97 64

E-mail contact@archicop.com

Town Hall of Briis sous Forges - Place de la Libération, F-91640 Briis-sous-Forges. Mr. Bertol Gino - Tel. +33 1 64 90 70 26 - Fax: +33 1 64 90 79 65

E-mail st.mairie.briis@wanadoo.fr

Thermal engineering consultants: POUGET Consultants, 81 rue Marcadet,

F-75018 PARIS:

Vincent Braire in Nantes – Tel. +33 2 40 12 21 22, and

André Pouget in Paris, Tel. +33 1 42 59 53 64

E-mail contact@pouget-consultants.fr

Pilkington Translucent Profilit™ cladding with CABOT Nanogel™

Pilkington’s glazed cladding, together with Nanogel aerogel insulation technology, performs significantly better that other systems available on the market - such as glass fibre reinforced polyester or multiwall polycarbonate panels, prefabricated skylights and U-shaped or insulated plain glass products.

The Profilit + Nanogel achieves light transmission and thermal insulation levels which are up to four times higher than those achieved by other systems. The translucent panels diffuse natural daylight as museum-quality light without glare, hot spots or shadows. This reduces energy expended on lighting and air-conditioning and saves money; sound insulation is also improved. Nanogel maintains its performance and appearance throughout its life.

Reader enquiries

Cabot Corporation
Interleuvenlaan 15 I
B-3001 Leuven

Belgium
+32 1639 2578
Donald_Beck@​Cabot-Corp.com
www.cabot-corp.com

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Notes for editors

About Nanogel

The Cabot Corporation developed Nanogel as a way of increasing the insulation of thermally inefficient glazing systems. Nanogel is a translucent granular form of silica aerogel. Comprising 97% air and weighing only 80g per litre, it is the world’s lightest solid material. Compared with other insulation materials, it provides superior thermal and sound insulation performance as well as better light transmission and diffusion. Using within glazing systems, Nanogel offers architects and designers a revolutionary and unique solution for maximising levels of natural daylight coupled with high energy efficiency. Nanogel is manufactured exclusively by Cabot in Frankfurt, Germany - visit the website at: www.nanogel.com

Nanogel has been cited for being ‘the best translucent insulation for glazing in the world’ by the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Journal Innovation Award 2004 and the ‘Best Innovative Product for Energy Savings’ at Bau 2005, Germany’s leading building and construction exhibition.

About Cabot Corporation

Cabot Corporation (www.cabot-corp.com) is a $1.8 billion global specialty chemical and materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts U.S.A. Cabot's major products are carbon black, fumed silica, inkjet colorants, capacitor materials, and cesium formate drilling fluids. Cabot is also a leader in the production of fine, structured, sub-micron particles, comprising carbon, metals and metal oxides developed to enhance the performance of a variety of products, including rubber, adhesives, inks, microelectronics, and plastics. Cabot operates 44 manufacturing plants located in 23 countries around the world.

Profilit™ is a trademark of Pilkington plc.

Nanogel™ is a registered trademark of Cabot Corporation.