CREAGORA

Multi-purpose office building

CLIENT: Alliance Nationale des Mutualités Chrétiennes

ARCHITECT: Ad’A et Atelier 4D

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Thomas & Piron Bâtiment

INSTALLER: Troiani & Fils SA

TECHNIQUE: Perforated and corrugated panels

SURFACE ASPECT: PIGMENTO® red

SURFACE AREA IN ZINC: 3200 m2

The Alliance Nationale des Mutualités Chrétiennes has located its new headquarters - Creagora - in a unique building in Champion, near Namur in Belgium. Today it is a figurehead in a neighbourhood that is beginning a long development process. The architectural gamble: turn this substantial volume into a captivating, vibrant building which also aims to be welcoming and protective. Mission accomplished, largely thanks to the made-to-order facade solutions developed by VMZINC®. With their PIGMENTO® red aspect, they provide lightness and rhythm, while giving the building a strong expression.

This building is unique in more ways than one, because Creagora is not a typical headquarters.

Creagora takes its name from the terms “Creation” and “Agora” (a place where people gather together).

In addition to bringing together the administrative services of Mutualités Chrétiennes, the site is also intended as a social research and innovation unit. A place of synergies and exchange, conducive to creativity for the development of new social projects. This ambitious project is housed in a building that cultivates the same ambivalence.

Although from afar the building may seem massive, its volume seems more discreet when approached from the upper part of the plot. On a site featuring several scales bringing together a motorway, housing and a protected rural area, the architects at ADA and Atelier 4D installed Creagora in a North-South position, which made it possible to retain perspectives and preserve green areas as much as possible, minimizing the impact on the surrounding residential environment. They decided to use a slope in the plot to propose various entrances at ground level. The incline also made it possible to open the building more onto the countryside.

The material chosen for the building envelope adds lightness to the project. The zinc chosen to clad the 3,200 m² of facade gives the complex a highly organic appearance, while providing an “earthy” touch with PIGMENTO® red, creating the impression that Creagora is embedded in the plot.

“Thanks to the use of PIGMENTO® red on the facades, we were able to give a lightweight, organic aspect to the Creagora building. This gives it an earthy appearance, as though it is covered with a fine skin.”

Made to order facade system

“Connecting and sharing” are the two words that guided the architects during their research. Above all, the building had to seem lively and dynamic, to illustrate the aim of the Mutualités: make the site a social research and innovation centre, more than just a space housing the various services.

The architecture firms met with the VMZINC® teams to examine the various possible zinc cladding solutions capable of translating this aim.

A made-to-order folding technique was chosen, based on the existing VMZ Sine wave profile system. The corrugated panels, developed step-by-step with the architects and the VMZINC® technical teams, were installed horizontally and underline the rigid North-South position of the Creagora building. The straight lines give character and speed to the building, and the corrugation gives energy to the facades.

Perforated zinc: elegant and functional

Creagora’s originality resides in the fact that the corrugated panel system was installed in two different ways.

Opaque on a large section of the facades, the system becomes transparent next to the large windows, providing sun protection, and on the roof, which houses the technical facilities. This makes the building very different on the inside and the outside.

The continuous volume perceived from the outside becomes incredibly transparent and sculpted from the inside of the building, which is full of curves and fluidity, and features a staircase enabling circulation and chance meetings, rather like a vertical street.

This subtle play of shadow and light, made possible thanks to the various degrees of perforation, clads Creagora with a light, protective veil and contributes to creating an interior atmosphere of safety and lightness. The vertical street, which houses meeting spaces and piazettas, as well as stairways connecting the various floors of the building, adds a lively, open, welcoming touch.

A successful collaboration

The VMZINC® teams were real partners and began working alongside the architects at a very early stage, always encouraging the design team to stay creative. Existing projects served as references. Prototypes were made so that the architects could validate the profile design they wanted with the client and test the various degrees of perforation.

The VMZINC® teams also worked alongside Troiani (the company to which general contractor Thomas & Piron subcontracted the cladding) to prepare work on site and installation. Apart from its precious technical know-how, Troiani also provided very useful advice during the project.

With this made-to-order solution, and the efficient collaboration between all parties involved in the project, Creagora made it possible to push the limits of the material and demonstrate its capacity to respond to all requirements.

VMZINC® meets the requirements of architects seeking original solutions to give their projects a specific identity. Colours on request, made-to-order forms, perforations, embossing or dimpling, the brand provides solutions for new means of expression.

It acts as a genuine partner, supporting clients and design teams to budget, test and produce the ideal solution.